Box score
FAIRFIELD, CT—Sacred Heart ran its overall record to 7-3 with a convincing 3-1 win over visiting NJIT Tuesday night in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Hay Division men's action.
The Pioneers, 3-1 in the EIVA Hay, took the three sets they won comfortably, including 25-11 in the match-clinching fourth set. NJIT (0-3 EIVA Hay, 3-11 overall) captured the third set, 27-25.
The four-set score for Sacred Heart was 25-16, 25-19, 25-27, and 25-11, giving the senior-laden Pioneers six wins in their last seven matches.
Senior Roger Parent and freshman Enzo Mackenzie headed the Pioneer attack with 13 kills apiece, while senior setter Tim Sadowski was credited with 38 assists. Sadowski also notched four service aces, leading the winners to a dominant 13-3 lead in that category.
On defense, senior Craig Harvey collected 9 digs for SHU, while freshman Bradley Borsay finished with 8. The blocking game was even, with each side accumulating 9.5 team blocks. Sadowski and senior Josef Sauer each compiled 6 blocks to lead the Pioneers. Sadowski had a block solo and five block assists, while all of Sauer's blocks were assisted.
NJIT, which was hurt by 26 hitting errors, got a team-leading 8 kills from freshman Dhruv Lad. However, the only Highlander with a good kills-to-errors ratio was junior Adam Gustafson, who had 6 kills and one hitting error.
The versatile Gustafson and Matthew Lui shared the setting duties and each finished with 12 assists. Three different Highlanders had a single service ace each.
On the defensive side, Gustafson produced a match-best 11 digs to go along with 4 blocks (all assisted). The blocking leader for NJIT was freshman Rafal Kierznowski, who posted a match-high 7 total blocks (1 solo, 6 assists).
NJIT was tied in the first set as late as 8-8, but Sacred Heart scored eight of the next 11 points and later finished off the set, 6-2 for the 25-16 final.
The Highlanders lost control of the second set around the same time as they did in the first set, trailing 6-7, before the Pioneers went on a 8-2 splurge for a 15-9 lead. Sacred Heart had all but clinched the set, 23-15, when NJIT used a 4-1 run to close the gap before succumbing, 19-25.
Sacred Heart opened a 13-8 lead in the fourth set, but NJIT later had 4-1 and 5-1 spurts, claiming a 20-19 edge after the 5-1 spurt. The Pioneers went back up, 24-21, but the Highlanders never allowed set point, notching four straight markers for a 25-24 lead. SHU then tied with a point before NJIT prevailed, 27-25, on a pair of Sacred Heart errors.
NJIT, which scored the first point in each of the four sets, soon fell behind, 1-4 in the fourth and was never in contention after that. The Highlanders did not reach double-figures until the Pioneers had piled up 22 points of their own.
The Highlanders will play two non-conference matches in North Carolina this weekend, visiting Lees-McRae on Friday at 7 pm and then Pfeiffer at 2 pm on Saturday. Lees-McRae swept NJIT, 3-0, when the teams played in Newark on February 18.
