NEWARK, NJ—NJIT put forth a solid all-around performance Sunday and the Highlanders scored their first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference women's volleyball victory, topping Stetson 3-1.
 
The Highlanders, now 1-2 in the A-Sun and 5-14 overall, spotted the visiting Hatters a win in the first set before coming back to take the next three frames. Stetson is 0-3 in the Atlantic Sun and 5-11 overall following Sunday's defeat.
 
Senior Danica Vukotic led the NJIT attack with 20 kills. Danica's twin sister, Nina Vukotic, also reached double-figures in kills with 11, while Anneka Harris added eight kills and Marija Tosic had six kills with just one error.
 
Madison Akins and McKenna Foster shared the kills lead for Stetson with 12 apiece.
 
NJIT's freshman setter Emily Krachenfels had her best four-set total of the year in assists, with 39, and she added two service aces and, on the defensive side, 10 digs.
 
The match leader in digs was another Highlander rookie, libero Adriana Nieto, who finished with 16 digs.
 
Akins' 12 digs led the Hatters, giving her an offense-defense double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs. Kayla Weller, Stetson's senior setter, had 10 digs to go with her 30 assists.
 
The team blocking was extremely close, with NJIT owning a slight 10.5-to-10 advantage in total team blocks. Five different Highlanders had multiple blocks, led by Harris, who had two block solos and three block assists, while Tosic notched five block assists.
 
For Stetson, sophomore Shelby Connors posted a match-best six blocks (1 solo, 5 assists) and Madison Fitzsimmons had four block assists.
 
Three of the four sets Sunday were close, with NJIT's 25-15 win in the third set being the only exception.
 
The Hatters had their best hitting set of the match, by far, in the opening frame. Their team attack percentage to open was .300 (16 kills, 7 errors, 30 attempts), but they did not hit over .120 in any of the ensuing sets.
 
Stetson opened a 13-9 lead in the first set and still led 24-21 before NJIT rallied to tie, 24-24, after two kills by Danica Vukotic and a kill by Nina Vukotic. The Hatters responded with back-to-back kills, with set point coming from Akins.
 
Where both teams had hit .300 or better in the opening set, the second set was different, as Stetson had 8 kills and 7 errors attacking, while NJIT's hitting was even, with 9 kills and 9 errors. NJIT jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Stetson came back to knot the score at 5-5, the first of nine ties in the frame.
 
Trailing 14-17, the Highlanders rallied for a 19-19 tie, but quickly fell behind again, 19-21. Coach Peter Volkert took a timeout and his team responded with six unanswered points and 25-21 victory, with set point coming on a Danica Vukotic kill.
 
The home team was in control of the third set throughout, starting out 1-0 and never trailing the entire way to a 25-15 victory. Danica Vukotic had five kills without an error in seven swings to key the Highlanders.
 
The fourth set reverted to a close score, but NJIT prevailed 25-22 to clinch its first A-Sun win.
 
Stetson built a 10-7 lead before the Highlanders rallied for a 10-10 tie on a Harris block solo. The 3-0 spurt to tie was part of a larger 9-3 run that flipped the score from a 7-10 deficit to a 16-13 lead for the home team.
 
NJIT took the lead at 14-13 and led the rest of the way, but not by more three points, which would be the final margin, 25-22..
 
The Highlanders, who have had their first three Atlantic Sun matches at home, will play their first road contests in the conference, visiting Jacksonville, FL, for a match on Friday at 7 pm vs. Jacksonville and then North Florida, also in Jacksonville, for a 1 pm contest on Sunday.