PHOENIX—NJIT women's volleyball made it a 1-1 day Friday in the second match of the GCU Invitational, as the Highlanders bounced back from a 3-1 defeat in the morning vs. Omaha to beat Incarnate Word by the same 3-1 score in the second match of the day for both teams in the tournament hosted by Grand Canyon University.
 
The Highlanders (12-21) dropped the opening set, 21-25, but roared back to take the next three sets and the match, 27-25, 25-17, and 25-19. Incarnate Word, based in San Antonio drops to 10-21 on the season after falling to NJIT.
 
NJIT junior Danica Vukotic, who had a match-best 13 kills in the earlier loss to Omaha, outdid herself in leading the victorious attack against Incarnate Word, finishing with a match-high 16 kills. Seniors Valerie Carroll and Fran Edmondson kicked in 10 kills apiece for the Highlanders.
 
Freshman setter Alyssa Armada piled up 44 of NJIT's 47 assists and senior Camilla Tinari accounted for half of her team's 6 service aces.
 
Tinari, who had a match-best 16 digs earlier vs. Omaha, took match honors in that category again vs. Incarnate Word, coming away with 15 digs. Danica Vukotic had her second offense-defense double-double in as many matches, adding 13 digs to her 16 kills.
 
At the net, NJIT had a slight edge in total team blocks, 7.5-to-7.0. Edmondson led NJIT with 6 block assists, while freshman Shani Leacock chipped in with 4 block assists.
 
The Incarnate Word Cardinals got 14 kills from junior Angelique Vidaurri and 10 apiece from Brittani Dear and Shaina Garza. Freshman setter Madison Williams led the Cardinals in assists with 28 and Brianna Blagowsky served a match-leading 4 aces.
 
Incarnate Word got 14 digs from Jordan Reifsteck, while Dear and Garza complete double-doubles with 12 digs and 10 digs, respectively. Meaghan Patterson paced the Cardinals with 4 block assists.
 
The first set saw some wild momentum swings. Down 9-11, NJIT went on a 9-0 tear to build a seemingly comfortable 18-11 lead. But the Cardinals answered with their own tear, outscoring the Highlanders 14-3 the rest of the way to take the set 25-21.
 
NJIT pulled even by winning the second set, but it wasn't easy in a frame that required extra points to settle the win, 27-25, for the Highlanders. There were 13 ties and 8 lead changes in the set.
 
The Highlanders led early, going up 6-3, but UIW reclaimed the lead with a 4-0 spurt. The pendulum kept swinging and the set was knotted 20-20 when NJIT used a 3-0 spurt to take the upper hand. However, the Cardinals fought back into a 23-23 tie  The score was tied again at the 24th and 25th points before Tinari served an ace and the seniors Edmondson and Carroll combined for a block and set point, 27-25.
 
The win in the second set gave NJIT some momentum and the Highlanders broke a 9-9 tie with a 5-0 run and they led the rest of the set by at least 3, with the 25-17 bulge at the end representing the biggest Highlander lead.
 
There were four ties in the fourth set, but the Highlanders never trailed in the clinching frame that saw them lead from 5-4 on.
 
The five-team GCU Invitational concludes on Saturday and the Highlanders will take on UMass Lowell at 11 am Arizona time, followed by a 4 pm Arizona time match against host Grand Canyon.
 
UMass Lowell, the only team in the field that NJIT has faced prior to the tournament, topped the Highlanders in Lowell on September 27, 3-1.
 
Saturday's action will wrap up the 2014 season for NJIT, which goes into the final day and two matches of the season with 12 victories after winning 7 all of 2013.
 
Playing their first season under veteran head coach Peter Volkert, the Highlanders were 4-13 on September 28 and 6-17 on October 18. But they are 6-4 in the last 10 matches on the eve of the two Saturday matches vs. UMass Lowell and Grand Canyon.