Box score

NEWARK, NJ—NJIT men's volleyball scored its first win of 2013 with a rousing 3-2 comeback victory against visiting IPFW (25-14, 21-25, 13-25, 25-23,15-13) Saturday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
NJIT (1-2) not only got its first win of the season, but also its first win ever against IPFW (formally Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne), a traditional Midwest and national power in men's volleyball. The visiting Mastodons (2-2) have reached the four-team national championship tournament six times, including a 2007 national runner-up finish, under veteran coach Arnie Ball, who is 519-388 in his 33rd season at the helm.
 
NJIT had been winless in six tries against IPFW from 2010 to 2012, as the teams played twice each season. The Mastodons had won the first five contests in straight sets until the Highlanders finally won a set against IPFW in a 3-1 defeat last March 3 in Fort Wayne.
 
Against that backdrop, Saturday's match took on an unpredictable flow, as NJIT won the first set easily (25-14), before IPFW pulled even (25-21) in a set it led from 13-12 on. The Mastodons then blew out the Highlanders in the third set, 25-13. With IPFW on the brink of a win, the next two sets were tight, with NJIT staying alive on a 25-23 win in the fourth set and then edging the visitors in the deciding, set, 15-13.The Highlanders never trailed the clincher, but they could not pull away, either.
 
Sophomore Chris Kaepernick (14 kills) was the leading hitter for NJIT and junior Herman Kantushov notched 13 kills, including four each in the fourth and fifth sets, respectively. Senior Doug Battersby had 10 kills from the middle, while committing just one error in 14 swings (.643).
 
NJIT used two setters, with sophomore Zak Robben starting and senior Matthew Lui taking over later in the match. Lui had 27 assists, while Robben had 14. The Highlanders had three service aces, which came from three different men.
 
On defense, senior Brady Smith had 12 digs and Kantushov added 10. The Highlanders, beaten 16-7 in team blocks, were paced in individual blocks by Battersby (1 solo, 6 assisted).
 
Eddie Rivera took match honors in kills, with 18, followed by 15 from freshman Nick Smalter. Setter Omar Rivera piled up 45 assists and the Mastodons, who had a 9-3 advantage in service aces, got four from freshman Andy Sellan and three from the setter, Rivera.
 
NJIT opened the match with a 6-1 start to the first set and cruised to the 25-14 win, never allowing the visitors to get closer four points from 6-1 on. NJIT's team hitting in the set was .391 (12 kills, 3 errors, 23 attempts).
 
The second set was close to begin with and NJIT held a 12-10 lead before the Mastodons took control on a 5-0 spurt, triggered by a kill and then three aces for Sellan, the IPFW freshman outside hitter. The visitors eventually stretched their lead to 22-15, before NJIT staged a 6-3 rally that was too little, too late, as IPFW took the set, 25-21. Eddie Rivera had six kills and no errors on nine swings in the set.
 
There was no carryover from NJIT's late second-set run into the third set, as the Mastodons took charge early, going from a 5-4 lead to 13-5 and then coasting home, 25-13.
 
Having looked outclassed in the third set, NJIT regrouped for the fourth set, which was close all the way. The Highlanders broke a 21-21 tie on an ace from sophomore Ryan Thomas and then a kill for Kantushov. With NJIT up two, the teams traded points until Kaepernick delivered a kill to win the set, 25-23.
 
The Highlanders used a Kaepernick kill, a block solo by Battersby and an IPFW attack error to grab a 3-0 lead in the deciding set. The Highlanders, who never trailed, saw a later 7-4 advantage turn into 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10 ties, but consecutive errors by IPFW put NJIT back on top, 12-10. The Mastodons trimmed the deficit to a single point three more times, but Kantushov claimed match point on a kill that made it 15-13. NJIT had nine kills and just one error on the attack in 16 swings (.500) in the deciding set. Indeed the one attack error and a service error were the only blemishes for the Highlanders in the deciding set.
 
The Highlanders will continue to take on teams from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, starting with a Friday 7 pm (CST) match in Illinois at Lewis, ranked 12th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I/II national poll. Lewis is also the alma mater of NJIT head coach Ryan McNeil.
 
The Highlanders, who have played their first three matches vs. MIVA foes (lost home to Grand Canyon and Ball State before beating IPFW), will take on Lewis and Loyola-Chicago next weekend. After that, NJIT will visit in-state foe Kean and then travel to play Ohio State of the MIVA on February 1.