NEWARK, NJ—Florida Gulf Coast rolled to its third consecutive win, as the Eagles took down NJIT in straight sets, 25-22, 25-14, and 25-19 Friday night in Atlantic Sun Conference women's volleyball in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
FGCU raised its overall record to 10-6 to go with a 2-0 A-Sun mark following Friday night's road win at NJIT (4-13 overall; 0-2 A-Sun).
 
The Eagles, who showed power and athleticism in multiple aspects of their game, had a team hitting percentage of .393 (39 kills, 6 errors, 84 attempts) to go with an 8-1 lead in total team blocks, as well as 10 services aces, the most by an NJIT opponent this season.
 
Freshman outside hitter Amanda Carroll led Florida Gulf Coast in kills (10) and in service aces (4). She had a .562 hitting percentage, with just one error in 16 swings. Both kills and aces totals were match-high.
 
Junior Leigh Pudwill added nine kills and had just one error, as well, in her 21 attempts. Senior Eleanora Kazarian also had nine kills, with two errors and a .438 hitting percentage. NJIT had further trouble with junior Marlene Moeller, who had seven kills and no errors in 13 attempts for a .538 hitting percentage from the middle.
 
Although the Highlanders were unable to take a set Friday night, they managed 30 kills, led by senior Nina Vukotic's nine. Her twin sister, Danica Vukotic, added eight kills. Nina Vukotic had just one error in 20 swings for a strong .400 individual hitting percentage.
 
Both teams had freshman setters and Maggie Rick of Florida Gulf Coast finished with 29 assists to 25 assists for NJIT's Emily Krachenfels.
 
FGCU had a 10-5 lead in service aces, topped nu Carroll's four, while Nina Vukotic served three of her team's five aces.
 
On defense, the team digs totals were close (36-34 in favor of the visitors) with senior libero Vanessa Benke of the Eagles leading the way with 14 digs. Adriana Nieto, NJIT's freshman libero, topped the Highlanders with 11 digs, while classmate Marija Tosic added eight, followed by seven for the setter, Krachenfels.
 
The visitors dominated at the net and sophomore Lauren Tutwiler generated a match-best six block assists, followed by four block assists for Kazarian.
 
The only block for the Highlanders was shared by Anneka Harris and Nina Vukotic.
 
Florida Gulf Coast took a 4-3 lead in the opening set and never trailed again. In fact, the Eagles built a 21-14 lead after Moeller and Kazarian blocked an NJIT hit.
 
The Highlanders followed with an 8-2 spurt, cutting their deficit to 22-23 after back-to-back aces for Nina Vukotic. However, Moeller hit a kill on the next point and Tutwiler and Rick combined on another block for set point.
 
The second set was tied as late as 10-10, but visiting Florida Gulf Coast notched 14 kills with just one error in the frame and eventually pulled away for a comfortable 25-14 win.
 
NJIT hung in longer in the third set and still trailed by just two at 15-17. But again, FGCU had two much pairing 12 kills with just two errors om the set. The Eagles' lead was down to 22-19 after a kill by Harris of the Highlanders, but a succeeding Moeller kill, an NJIT error, and an ace for Benke put away the set and match for the victorious Eagles.
 
The Highlanders will have two days off before hosting their next Atlantic Sun match, as Stetson visits the Fleisher Athletic Center for a match Sunday at noon.