Box Score
ST. CHARLES, MO—Lindenwood won its sixth consecutive men's volleyball match Tuesday, overcoming upset-minded NJIT 3-1 in non-conference action. In the process, the Lions moved to 15-1 in matches played against teams outside their league, the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.
Lindenwood is 18-6 overall. Always a strong league, the MIVA is home to five teams currently ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I/II Top 15, including Loyola University-Chicago, which is ranked first.
The defeat at Lindenwood, which also beat NJIT, 3-1, in Newark on January 18, drops the Highlanders back below the break-even point with an 8-9 won-lost record. They have been either at .500 or a win above or a win below, following 13 of their 17 matches this season.
NJIT, which was playing the third match in its four-match Spring Break swing through the Midwest, took the first set on Tuesday, 25-23. However, the Lions roared back to take the next three sets and clinch the victory. The second and fourth sets were each decided by close 25-21 scores for Lindenwood, which took the third set easily, 25-16.
Lindenwood, which hit .486 as a team (65 kills, 11 errors, 111 attempts) had four men with double-figures in the kills column. Three of the big hitters, including the leader, Colin Hackworth, were virtually unstoppable for the Highlanders' defense.
Hackworth, a 6-foot-9 junior Opposite Hitter, had 22 kills, with just two errors, in 31 attempts. Tim Huizinga, a senior outside hitter, also had just two errors, while recording 14 kills in 20 swings. Senior middle Scott Siwicki did not have as many kills (10), but did not have any errors in 15 attempts. Senior Michael Adams recorded 13 kills in 29 attempts and made four errors.
Senior setter Tim Schmidt dished out 54 assists and the Lions posted seven services aces led by two each for Huizinga and Siwicki.
On defense, the winners got 9 digs each from Schmidt and David Poole and the Lions, who had an 11.5-to-5.0 lead in total team blocks, got five each from Siwicki (1 BS, 4 BA) and Logan Jarus (2 BS, 3 BA).
TJ Jurko (13 kills) and
Kajetan Borecki (12) were in double-figures in the visitors' attack. NJIT setter
Zak Robben, who hails from St. Louis, about 25 miles from Lindenwood's home in St. Charles, collected 34 assists.
The Highlanders had four service aces, paced by a pair for Borecki.
Jurko, NJIT's kills leader with 13, completed an offense-defense double-double with a match-leading 11 digs and
Ryan Thomas was the NJIT leader in blocks (3; 1 BS; 2 BA). Thomas also was the most efficient hitter for the Highlanders, posting 7 kills and just one error in 11 attack attempts.
The opening set, won by NJIT, saw eight ties and four lead changes. Trailing 6-7, the Highlanders used a 4-0 run to claim a 10-7 lead. Lindenwood fought back to tie at 14-14 and then 15-15, but NJIT spurted again, 3-0 this time, with the last two points in the run coming on kills by Borecki and
Chris Kaepernick. NJIT led the rest of the way with set point coming on a service error by the Lions.
The second set was back-and-forth, as well, with six ties and four lead changes. A Hackworth kill broke the final tie, making it 11-10 for the Lions. But the Highlanders hung in, staying within two until a hitting error gave Lindenwood a 20-17 advantage. NJIT got within a point on a Thomas kill that made the score 19-20, but the Highlanders slipped back late, losing five of the last six points.
NJIT scored the first three points in the third set, but Lindenwood rallied, first going ahead at 7-6. After another brief tie, the Lions ran of three in a row for a 10-7 lead they expanded the rest of the set, winning 25-16.
Trailing in sets, 2-1, NJIT fought hard in the fourth set before losing the set, 21-25, to end the match. The score was tied as late as 16-16, but another Hackworth kill and then one for Michael Adams put Lindenwood on top, 18-16. Refusing to fall easily, the Highlanders did not allow the Lions to go up by more than two until a Hackworth kill gave his team a 22-19 bulge, starting a 4-2 run to the finish.
NJIT completes its Midwest trip with a match at Ball State in Muncie, IN. Ball State is 12th in the latest AVCA national poll. The Highlanders will take on the Cardinals at 7:30 pm on Thursday. Ball State is 15-5, with eight straight wins.
