Box Score


LORETTO, PA—NJIT positioned itself to take what would have been a big road victory, claiming the first two sets in its best-of-five contest at Saint Francis in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action Saturday night. But when the Highlanders couldn't finish off any of the ensuing three sets, the Red Flash stormed back for a 3-2 win (22-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 15-9).
 
With the comeback victory, Saint Francis is 2-1 in the EIVA and 7-4 overall. NJIT falls to 0-3 in the EIVA and 4-4 overall. Two of the three EIVA losses for the Highlanders, including Saturday in Loretto, have been in five sets.
 
NJIT, which opened EIVA play at Sacred Heart on February 8, lost the first two sets that night, but rallied to take the next two before losing in five. The Highlanders did what most EIVA teams have done in recent decades--lost at EIVA superpower Penn State Friday night to begin its weekend trip to central Pennsylvania. Aiming to get in the win column and salvage the long trip at Saint Francis, the Highlanders took a 2-0 lead in set with a pair of close wins, 25-22 and 26-24.
 
Needing one more set, the Highlanders never led the third set they would lose, 25-21, opening the door a crack for the Red Flash. It was the inability to finish off the win in the fourth set would prove fatal to NJIT's night, however. Leading 18-14, NJIT collapsed and managed just three more points in the set, as SFU closed out 11-3 for another 25-21 win that leveled the sets count at two apiece.
 
The Highlanders appeared to recover from the fourth-set fade, going ahead early in the fifth frame with a 7-5 lead. But the Red Flash ran off six unanswered points and finished off with a 15-9 win for set and match, thanks to a 10-2 closeout.
 
NJIT lost despite a match-best 22 kills for freshman Jabarry Goodridge. Kajetan Borecki (14 kills) and Raphael Anthony (10) also reached double-figures in the attack for the Highlanders. Setter Zak Robben was credited with 52 assists.
 
Anthony and Ryan Thomas each served an ace, as that part of the game was not a factor in terms of aces, as each team had two.
 
On defense, libero Oren Zyndorf led NJIT with 20 digs and Thomas was tops at the net, notching five block assists.
 
Saint Francis, which had 72 kills to 60 for the Highlanders, and was also more efficient (.361 attack percentage to .219 for the visitors), got 20 kills from Adam Barba, 19 from Kyle Beatty, and 13 from Mark Kochan. Setter Mike Kresch assisted on 64 of the team's 72 kills, while Kresch and Kochan each logged a service ace.
 
Three SFU players reached double-figures in digs, with Jeff Hogan collecting 11, while Barba and Ray Frazer each had 10. The Red Flash had a big edge in total team blocks (14.5-to-7) and Kochan had seven (1 solo, 6 assisted), followed by six apiece for Barba and Mike Marshman, who each had a block solo and five block assists.
 
NJIT opened the match well, going up 4-1 in the opening set. The Highlanders eventually fell behind, but they broke a 16-16 tie and went ahead 24-20 before coming up short on two possible set points. Thomas secured set point with a kill for the 25-22 win.
 
Even though extra points were needed to take the second set, 26-24, NJIT never trailed and built  advantages of 10-5, 15-9, and 18-13. It was 23-19, but Saint Francis rallied and tied the score at 23-23 and 24-24 before a Red Flash attack error and a Goodridge kill settled matters, 26-24. However, in the context of what was to come, going from 23-19 to needing a 26th point to win the set was probably a warning sign.
 
Saint Francis gained the upper hand in the third set by stretching an 11-9 lead to 16-12 before the Highlanders rallied back within a point, prompting a Red Flash timeout. SFU scored five of the next six points for a 21-16 edge and the Highlanders never got closer than three the rest of the set.
 
In the fourth, NJIT ran off six straight points to cap a 9-2 run that gave  the Highlanders an 18-14 advantage, getting them within seven points of clinching the match win. But after a timeout, SFU scored four straight points on two kills, an ace and a block to even the set at 18-18.
 
A Red Flash attack error put NJIT up a point briefly. But the Highlanders never got better than a tie after that, the last time at 21 apiece, before the home team ran off the last four points on two kills and two NJIT attack errors.
 
With the momentum apparently shifted away from them, the Highlanders took two-point leads early in the first set at 5-3, 6-4, and 7-5. But a Highlander service error and a Saint Francis block knotted the score at 7-7 and triggered a 6-0 run that prompted two timeout calls by NJIT Ryan McNeil.
 
The second one finally broke the run, as Anthony got a kill for the Highlanders, making it 8-11. But that didn't stop the bleeding and SFU got two more kills for an 13-8 lead. Anthony notched another point on a kill, but Barba and Beatty registered back-to-back kills, giving the Red Flash the set, 15-9, and the match, 3-2.
 
The Highlanders, who play the first six of their 14-match EIVA schedule on the road, will visit George Mason on Friday at 7 pm in Fairfax, VA.