Box Score


NEWARK, NJ—Thursday night's Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association men's rematch between Sacred Heart and NJIT had a slightly different plot, but the final result was similar—the home team prevailed in five hard-fought sets. This time the Highlanders were home and this time they won, topping Sacred Heart 25-19, 25-27, 25-19, 13-25, 15-11 in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
When the teams met at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, CT, back on February 8, the Pioneers came out on top, 3-2. In February, Sacred Heart won the first set easily and then took control with a 28-26 win in the second set. But NJIT fought back, taking the next two frames (25-23 and 25-23), before Sacred Heart claimed the win in the fifth set, 15-6.
 
In Thursday's rematch, the Highlanders won the first set comfortably and got to the verge of set point (24-22), only to fall in extras, 25-27, in the second. NJIT took the third set decisively, only to lose the next frame even more decisively. With the match even at two sets each, the Highlanders never trailed in the fifth set, but it was tied six times before they scored the last three points for a 15-11 win in the set and a 3-2 victory in the match.
 
NJIT, which has won its first two 2014 home games in the EIVA after opening league play at 0-6, all on the road, starting with that date at Sacred Heart last month, is now 2-6 in the EIVA and 7-7 overall. The Highlanders have eight EIVA regular season matches—seven at home and one at Rutgers-Newark, the team NJIT defeated for its first league win (3-2 on March 6).
 
With this victory, rebuilding NJIT matches its overall wins total from a year ago, when the Highlanders finished 7-21, including 4-10 in the EIVA. They have 13 matches left on the 2014 slate.
 
Thursday's loss drops Sacred Heart to 2-7 in the EIVA and 7-13 overall. The Pioneers, who defeated George Mason for their second EIVA win on February 15 at home, have lost their last three, falling at Princeton and then in rematches against George Mason and NJIT.
 
Victorious NJIT had three attackers with double-figure totals in kills, topped by Jabarry Goodridge's match-best 17 kills. Chris Kaepernick and Ryan Thomas each added 10 kills for the winners.
 
Thomas, hitting from the middle, had just one error to go with his 10 kills in 19 swings, good for a .474 attack percentage. The junior from Trinidad also shared the team lead in service aces (2) and individual blocks (6; 1 solo, 5 assisted).
 
Setter Zak Robben registered 39 assists, while Goodridge and Thomas each served two aces, accounting for four of NJIT's six service aces on the night.
 
The floor defense was balanced, with Oren Zyndorf and Brad Thele each producing 9 digs, followed Goodridge (8), Kaepernick (7), and Robben (6). At the net, Thomas shared team individual blocking honors with senior Dhruv Lad (6 block assists), while the setter, Robben, added 5 block assists.
 
Sacred Heart had two attackers with double-figures  in kills, Enzo MacKenzie (16) and Brad Borsay (15). Borsay had 18 kills in the first meeting, but MacKenzie's 16 kills were a big step up from the two he had in two sets' action the first time SHU faced the Highlanders. On the flip side, Austin Arcala had a team-best 22 kills vs. NJIT last month, but only 5 kills, with a negative hitting percentage (more errors than kills) in the rematch.
 
Setter RJ Uhlir had a match-best 50 assists for the Pioneers, while MacKenzie and Ben Thomas each served two aces for the visitors, who had one more ace (7) than NJIT did.
 
On defense, the Pioneers got 12 digs from MacKenzie, the junior from Brazil and 11 digs from Borsay, who is a senior from Rhode Island. At the net, Travis Vonholt had 7 individual blocks (2 solo, 5 assisted) and Raymond Satagaj  added five (2 solo, 3 assisted).
 
Indeed, everything was close, from close set scores to the statistics. Sacred Heart had a slight edge in kills (53-51), aces (7-6), digs (49-45), and total team blocks (15.0-13.0).
 
But in rally scoring, every error in the box score reflects a point that goes to the other team. In that realm, too, Sacred Heart had a few more than the Highlanders, a crucial factor in such a tight contest. The Pioneers had more attack errors (27-23), and more service errors (18-17). Those five points lost on errors may have been fatal, considering that NJIT's 5-set team points total was 103 to 101 for the visitors.
 
NJIT fell behind early in the opening frame, but dominated the middle portion and did not trail after 6-5, taking 7-point leads four different junctures before claiming the 25-19 win in a set with just two hitting errors.
 
The Highlanders seized the second set from the beginning, scoring the first three points and leading by five as late as 22-17. NJIT still had a 24-22 lead, but set point never came for the home team. SHU tied on two Highlander errors, but a Sacred Heart mistake put NJIT back at the doorstep, 25-24. But back-to-back Pioneer blocks and a clinching ace by Ben Thomas gave the Pioneers the 27-25 win. MacKenzie and Borsay each had five kills in the set.
 
NJIT took the first three points of the third set and led all the way to win, 25-19 and go up two sets to one, helped by six team blocks in the third set, four from Lad.
 
There was a tie at 1-1 in the fourth set, but Sacred Heart got the next two points and led from 2-1 on. The score stayed close at 13-10, but then the Pioneers used a 12-3 run to even the sets and force a fifth and deciding frame. The Pioneers dominated, making just two hitting errors in the set and outblocking NJIT, 7-0.
 
In a position where every remaining EIVA match is crucial in a bid to overcome the 0-6 start to the schedule, NJIT needed a strong fifth set and a win. Sacred Heart, too, had just one EIVA win since topping the Highlanders in the league opener, so the Pioneers were also under pressure.
 
There were six different ties as the teams battled to reach 15 points first. NJIT took a 2-0 lead on a pair of kills for Thomas, but the Highlanders never got the lead above two and SHU came back for ties at 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6, before a kill for Goodridge gave the home team a bit of momentum. Again, however, the Highlanders never went up more than two points and Sacred Heart came back for a tie at 9-9.
 
Kaepernick snapped what would be the last tie of the night at 10-9 and another Thomas ace made it 11-9 for NJIT. The Pioneers got back within a point two more times, but never tied and NJIT finished up the clinching set, 4-1. Kaepernick had a kill for 13-11 and then he served an ace to make it 14-11. He served match point, but it came on a combination block by Lad and Robben.
 
With Spring Break ahead, NJIT does not have another EIVA contest until the trip down Warren Street to Rutgers-Newark on April 2.
 
In the interim, the Highlanders will play six matches on the road between March 15 and March 29. It begins on Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at IPFW in a 7 pm start.