Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ – Senior Mike Bunting led No. 14 Loyola University Chicago past NJIT 3-1 (25-15, 26-28, 25-17, 25-19) Saturday evening in men's volleyball non-conference action at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Loyola (8-6) has won its last five out of six matches and is ranked 14th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association national men's poll.  The Highlanders, who have faced two nationally ranked opponents back-to-back drop to 5-7 on the year. 
 
Bunting, the Ramblers' outside hitter, notched a match-high 19 kills, followed by sophomore Dainis Berzins with 11.  Bunting finished the match with a .406 hitting percentage (19k, 6e, 32a).
 
Junior setter Matt Mirick combined for 37 assists and a team-high five total blocks (one solo, four assists) for the visitors.  Libero Tommy Becker shared match-high honors with NJIT's Brady Smith, combining for 13 digs.
 
Leading the way for NJIT was freshman TJ Jurko with 13 kills.  Jurko has posted double-digit kills in eight out of 12 matches for the Highlanders. Junior Doug Battersby recorded 11 kills while Kevin Van Oss added eight.
 
Junior setter Matthew Lui piled up a match and season-high 42 assists to go along with five digs and six total blocks (one solo, five assists).  The six blocks was a match-high and ties his season best (six at Rutgers-Newark on February 15).  Battersby and Van Oss each posted four total blocks (one solo and three assists) as the home team held a 10.5 to 7.0 team blocking advantage.
 
NJIT libero Smith led the team with 13 digs followed by Adam Gustafson who added seven. 
 
Loyola, as a team, hit .579 in the first frame (12k, 1e, 19a) and .591 in the third (15k, 2e, 22a) winning by scores of 25-15 and 25-17. Bunting led each set with six and four kills.
 
In the fourth set, Loyola jumped out to a 5-1 lead resulting in an NJIT timeout.  The Ramblers increased its lead to six on a kill by Cody Caldwell for a 17-11 score.  The closest the Highlanders would get to the visitors was five points, 23-18, after a kill by Aurel Griesshammer and a Loyola attack error.  The Ramblers finished out the set on a quick 2-1 run for a 25-19 victory.
 
The lone set won by the Highlanders came in the second frame.  NJIT opened up the set with a 7-3 lead.  Loyola rallied to within two of the Highlanders, 12-10, on a kill by Bunting.  The match remained close throughout the mid-teens and the Highlanders took a three-point cushion, 23-20, on a kill by freshman Chris Kaepernick. 
 
After a timeout by Loyola, Bunting responded with a kill but on the next play, the Highlanders earned the point on an attack error, for a 24-21 lead.  The Ramblers scored the next three points and knotted the match at 24. 
 
The match saw two more ties, the final at 26 on a kill by Loyola's Caldwell but it was NJIT's Jurko who put the set away with back-to-back kills for a 28-26 victory.
 
The Highlanders will host Sacred Heart in an EIVA conference match on Tuesday, February 21 at 7pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.