Box Score

RIVERDALE, NY—The NJIT women's volleyball team extended its longest winning streak in four years to 5 straight matches, simultaneously halting Manhattan's winning streak at 6 in a row by nipping the Jaspers 3-2 Wednesday night at Draddy Gymnasium.

The set scores for the Highlanders (7-10) were: 25-23, 25-27, 25-18, 23-25, and 15-12.

Manhattan (13-8) had won 8 of its previous 9 matches and was 5-0 at home before NJIT invaded the Jaspers' home court. Manhattan is second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 7-1 conference record, just behind Siena's MAAC-leading 8-1.

Wednesday's win extended NJIT's longest match winning streak since it won 5 in a row in 2009 from September 25 to October 14. The Highlanders, who began NCAA Division I competition in 2006, opened 2009 with 8 straight wins and posted went on to a program DI-best 17-11 record that year.

NJIT took a 2-1 lead in sets Wednesday night, winning the first frame 25-23 and the third by a score of 25-18. 

Manhattan, which took the second set, 27-25, drew even again with a hard fought 25-23 decision in the fourth set. But the Highlanders who took an 8-5 lead in the deciding set and held off a Manhattan spurt to clinch the match, 15-12.

NJIT got an offense-defense double-double from senior Cathy Leung's team-high 16 kills and 20 digs,  while sophomore Danica Vukotic notched 14 kills and 15 digs for the Highlanders.

Highlander Julia Colombo combined for a .526 hitting percentage on 10 kills and 19 attempts with no errors, while adding 6 block assists and 5 digs.  Middle Valerie Carroll finished with a .458 hitting percentage and a season-high 15 kills to go along with 5 digs and 4 block assists.

Sophomore setter Fran Edmondson posted a double-double of her own with a match-high 49 assists and 17 digs. The 49 assists for Edmondson are a new career-high, surpassing her old mark of 41 vs. Lafayette on October 4.

Following Leung's team-high 20 digs were four different Highlanders: Nina Vukotic (18), Edmondson, libero Katie Goswick (17), and Danica Vukotic (15).

Malia McGuinness and Sydney Volovski shared match-high honors with 17 kills for Manhattan.  McGuinness added 16 digs defensively for the Jaspers.

Anna Kitlar recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs, while Ellie Wiekamp followed with a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 15 digs in the loss.

Setter Teodora Peric posted 34 assists, while Jade Gray added 19 for the Jaspers.  Allie Yamashiro recorded a match-high 30 digs followed by McGuinness (16), Wiekamp (15) and Kitlar (10).

In the first frame, the score remained close throughout until Manhattan's Wiekamp broke an 18-18 tie.  Manhattan pulled ahead by three, 21-18, but the Highlanders rallied for a 5-2 spurt, knotting the set at 23 on back-to-back kills by Leung and Colombo, prompting a timeout by Manhattan.  Out of the timeout, Leung closed out the frame, teaming with Colombo for a block and putting down a kill for a 25-23 victory.

Manhattan jumped out to a 15-9 lead in the second frame.  With the score 20-15 in favor of the home team, NJIT battled back, scoring 6 unanswered points to take a 21-20 lead.  The match saw five more ties, the final at 25, before Manhattan's Volovski notched back-to-back kills to earn the 27-25 victory.

The third frame seesawed back and forth until 16-15 in favor of Manhattan.  The Highlanders exploded for an 8-1 run, pulling ahead of the Jaspers 24-17 and later closed out the set on blocks by Nina Vukotic and Carroll for a convincing 25-18 victory.

The fourth set saw 16 ties, the last one at 23 on a kill by Manhattan's Juliana Behrens. The Jaspers scored the next two points, taking the set, 25-23, forcing a fifth and deciding set.

In the final frame, NJIT jumped to an early 8-5 lead. Manhattan rallied back and trimmed the Highlander lead to 11-10.  After an NJIT timeout and Manhattan hitting error, the Highlanders held a two-point advantage, 12-10.  A kill by Manhattan's Wiekamp kept the score within one, 12-11, but the Highlanders scored a point on a bad set by the Jaspers and finished off the frame on a 2-1 run, taking the fifth and deciding set by a score of 15-12.

NJIT will return to action on Saturday at 4pm when the Highlanders visit Lehigh.  The teams last met on September 6, 2011 in Newark, with NJIT edging the Mountain Hawks, 3-2.