Marist Box Score

Fordham Box Score
 
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY—The NJIT women's volleyball split a pair of matches Saturday at Marist's Volley in the Valley Tournament at McCann Arena.
 
The Highlanders (2-4) defeated host Marist in the opening match but fell in five sets to Fordham in the second match of the day.  The two-day tournament will conclude on Sunday at 11am when the Highlanders face Hartford.
 
In the first match at Marist's Volley in the Valley Tournament, the Highlanders defeated the host team 3-1.  Marist won the first frame 25-19, but the Highlanders won the next three sets to earn the victory, 25-20, 25-18, 25-21.
 
Leading the way for the Highlanders against the Red Foxes were NJIT's senior Janet Snell with 14 kills and junior Cath Leung with 10.  Snell recorded a double-double in the match with 14 kills and 12 digs.  Snell has recorded double-figure kill totals in the last four out of five matches and back-to-back double-figure dig totals.  Leung hit .391 for the match with 10 kills, one error on 23 swings.
 
Also contributing to the Highlander offense was Camilla Tinari with nine kills on 21 attempts and just one error for a .381 hitting percentage.
 
NJIT senior setter Anna Mercado piled up a team-high 26 assists and added eight digs while Barbara Perru tallied 12 assists. 
 
Defensively, Renata Pandolfo led the match with a high of 28 digs while Valerie Carroll and Nina Vukotic combined for 10 total blocks – Carroll (five assists) and Nina Vukotic (one solo, four assists).
 
Grace Hill posted a double-double with a match-high 21 kills and 11 digs for Marist followed by Hanna Stolberg's who was one-dig shy a triple double – 10 kills, 28 assists and nine digs.
 
Three Red Foxes posted double-figure dig totals – Brooke Zywick (14), Hill (11), and Gena Russo (10).  Stolberg and Audra Brady tallied nine digs apiece. 
 
In the second match, a five-set thriller against Fordham, the Highlanders took the first set, 25-20, and the third set, 25-15.  The Rams defeated NJIT in the second set, 25-20, and earned the victory taking the fourth set, 25-23, and the final set, 15-10.
 
The Highlanders had three players reach double-figure kill totals led by freshman Fran Edmondson with 14 kills, Snell (12) and Tinari (10).  Setter Mercado combined for a match-high 30 assists to go along with nine digs while Barbara Perru piled up 13 assists.
 
Pandolfo led the match with 23 digs while Snell who recorded her second double-double of the day with 10 digs.
 
Fordham (1-6), who picked up its first win of the 2012 season, was led by a match-high 26 kills from Lisa Hipp.  Brianna O'Neil added 10 kills for the Rams.
 
Setters Abigail Konovodoff and Sara Konkel split time at the setting position with Konovodoff registering 29 assists and Konkel with 25.
 
Three Rams tallied double-digit dig totals led by Maria Rodenberg and Michele Keathley with 14 while Konkel combined for 10.  In front of the net for the Rams, Randi Ewing recorded seven block assists.
 
Heading into the third set, with the match tied at one set apiece, NJIT took a 2-1 lead, after hitting .355 as a team for a 25-15 third set win.
 
In the fourth set, NJIT had a 23-20 lead, resulting in a Fordham timeout. Following the timeout, NJIT committed an error which was followed by consecutive kills by Ewing and Hipp to tie the score at 23. The Highlanders then made two crucial attack errors as Fordham forced a fifth set.
 
In the deciding set, the frame was tied at five.  Fordham then scored five straight points for a 10-5 lead.  NJIT closed the gap to within two at 12-10, but two NJIT errors and a kill by Fordham's Brennan Delsing ended the match.