BELMONT, NC—NJIT completed a three-match sweep of its men's volleyball trip to the Carolinas, defeating Belmont Abbey, 3-1, Saturday night in Belmont Abbey's Wheeler Center.
 
The Highlanders are now 4-2, all on the road, with wins in their last four matches, including a three-match whirlwind visit to the Carolinas that began Thursday night in Hartsville, SC, against Coker and continued Friday in Gaffney, SC, at Coker, before wrapping up with the win at Belmont Abbey. NJIT won the first two matches on the trip by 3-0 set scores before topping Belmont Abbey, 25-22, 18-25, 25-18, and 25-12.
 
Belmont Abbey, which plays in Conference Carolinas, one of four automatic qualifying conferences in the six-team NCAA Division I-II postseason championship field, drops to 2-4 overall with Saturday's loss to the Highlanders.
 
NJIT continue to display a strong attack, with Jabarry Goodridge notching a team-best 18 kills, followed by Kajetan Borecki's 15 kills. TJ Jurko and Ryan Thomas each checked in with nine kills and they also committed just two hitting errors apiece. Thomas finished with a .500 hitting percentage (9 kills, 2 errors, 14 attempts) and Borecki was a strong .458 on the outside (15 kills, 4 errors, 24 attempts).
 
Zak Robben triggered the attack with a match-best 47 assists for the Highlanders who got four points on service aces, two of which came from Thomas.
 
The floor defense for NJIT was headed by libero Oren Zyndorf's 12 digs. NJIT doubled the home team in total team blocks (10-5) and Thomas, the explosive senior middle, led the way there with six total blocks (4 solo, 2 assists). Goodridge added four blocks (2 solo, 2 assists).
 
Belmont Abbey junior Nolan Albrecht had a strong game, sharing match honors with NJIT's Goodridge at 17 kills, while also sharing the Crusaders' lead in digs with nine, a total matched by Jon Lowenhagen.
 
Belmont Abbey got eight kills each from Brennan Beyner and Anthony Pippen in support of Albrecht and Derek Sullivan, Belmont Abbey's junior setter, piled up 36 assists.
 
Justin Snyder produced the only service ace for the home team. Saturday marked NJIT's second consecutive match with only one ace for the opposition, a big improvement over the seven conceded in a loss at Lindenwood on January 16 and then five each in wins at Charleston (WV) and Coker.
 
Belmont Abbey's individual blocking leader was junior middle Dustin Buell, who had two block solos and two block assists.
 
Despite playing three matches in a little over 48 hours, NJIT continued to show the ability to finish sets strong in the opening frame at Belmont Abbey. Down 16-19, the Highlanders closed out the set 9-3 for the 25-22 victory, with set point coming on a Borecki kill.
 
That first-frame victory gave NJIT a string of 10 straight winning sets, but the streak came to end with Belmont Abbey's 25-18 triumph in Saturday's second set. There was no doubt about losing the set, as NJIT lost the first three points and trailed throughout.
 
The Highlanders lost the first two points of the third set, but they used an 11-4 surge to go up 11-6 capped by a Thomas kill on the 11th point that prompted a Crusader timeout with NJIT having taken the preceding five points.
 
Belmont Abbey got the point following its timeout, but NJIT led by at least four the remained of the way to the 25-18 third-set win that put the Highlanders ahead in sets, 2-1.
 
The home team took an early 2-1 lead in the fourth set, but NJIT scored three straight on a kill for Luke Robbe followed by a block solo and a kill for Thomas and the Highlanders, who would not trail again, were on their way to clinching in four sets.
 
The score stayed close, with NJIT leading, 8-7, but then the Highlanders dropped the hammer, scoring 17 of the remaining 22 points for a comfortable 25-12 win in the set.
 
With the four straight non-conference wins and a 4-2 record in the pre-conference slate, NJIT will begin Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association competition on Friday, February 6 at 7 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The EIVA champion gets an automatic spot in the NCAA Division I-II championship field, with the spot awarded to the team that wins the EIVA postseason tournament. NJIT advanced to the EIVA tournament semifinal following the 2008 season, where they lost to George Mason, 3-2. However, the Highlanders have not returned to postseason play since.