Box Score

NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Houston Baptist had four players reach double-figure kills as the Huskies defeated NJIT, 3-1, Thursday evening in the Great West Conference opener for both teams at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Houston Baptist, which snaps a four-match losing streak, improves to 10-8 overall, 1-0 in the Great West while the Highlanders, who played its first 15 matches on the road fall to 6-10 overall, 0-1 in the conference in the teams' 2012 home opener.

The Huskies won by the scores of 25-19, 21-25, 25-17, and 25-21 led by a double-double from  sophomore outside hitter Jamine Casey with a team-high 14 kills and 25 digs.  Senior outside hitter Heather Leaverton just missed a double-double combining for 13 kills and nine digs while Madeline Gaffney and Bailey Keith registered 11 and 10 kills respectively for the visitors.

Senior setter Victoria Weatherly notched a double-double with a match-high 52 assists while adding 14 digs.  Casey led the Huskies defensively with 25 digs followed by Weatherly's 14.  Libero Esther Longoria added nine digs.

The Highlanders were paced by sophomore outside hitter Camilla Tinari, who notched a double-double with a match-high 16 kills while adding 10 digs.  Senior Janet Snell combined for a double-double of her own on 10 kills and 10 digs.

Freshman Danica Vukotic hit a team-best .385 for the match recording six kills on 13 swings with just one error for the home team.

Libero Renata Pandolfo led the NJIT defense with a match-high 31 digs.  Pandolfo has now registered double-digit digs in 15-out-of-16 matches this season with a high of 34 at Temple on September 12.

In the opening set the score was tied at 2-2 after a kill by NJIT's Tinari until Houston Baptist rallied off the next five points taking a 7-2 lead and resulting in an NJIT timeout.  The Highlanders came as close as four, 20-16, on a kill from freshman Fran Edmondson but the Huskies scored the next four points – three kills from Madeline Gaffney and one from Keith, for a 24-16 favor.  NJIT stuck around scoring the next three points for a 24-19 score, but the Huskies finished off the set on a kill by Leaverton, 25-19.

In the second frame, the Highlanders hit an impressive .303 led by Tinari with seven kills.  The set remaining close in the early stages and into the early teen's as the Highlanders posted four straight points taking a 14-10 lead.  Both teams went back and forth as the Highlanders went on a quick 3-1 run after a kill by Tinari that made the score, 16-12.  Houston Baptist Gaffeny responded with a kill but back-to-back kills by Snell and Tinari and an attack error from the Huskies, the Highlanders led 18-14.  The Huskies cut the lead to two, on four different occasions, the final at 21-19 after an attack error by the Highlanders.  The Highlanders finished off the set on a 4-2 run for a 25-21 victory.

Houston Baptist took a six-point lead to start the match, 11-5, on a kill by Gaffney.  NJIT responded cutting the lead to three, 15-12, after a kill by Julia Colombo, resulting in a Houston Baptist timeout.  The Huskies then went on a 7-1 run for a 22-13 lead after a kill by Leaverton and went on to take the set, 25-17, on a kill by Casey.

In the final set, the set remained close throughout, until 13-13, when the Huskies went on a quick 5-1 run for an 18-14 lead.  NJIT came back to within two, 21-19, after a kill by Danica Vukotic and an attack error by the Huskies.  After a Houston Baptist timeout, the Huskies went on a short 3-1 run making the score 24-20 lead.  NJIT's Snell recorded the 21^st point for the Highlanders but it was Houston Baptist Caiti Wenger who put the match away with a 25-21 victory.

NJIT will return to action on Saturday at 1pm when the Highlanders host Texas-Pan American in Great West Conference action at the Fleisher Athletic Center.