Post Game Interview
NEWARK, NJ—Jacksonville defeated NJIT in straight sets Sunday afternoon, topping the Highlanders 25-17, 25-19, and 25-21 in Atlantic Sun Conference women's volleyball played in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
The visiting Dolphins raised their A-Sun record to 7-5 and their overall mark to 10-14, while NJIT is 1-11 in the A-Sun and 6-23 in all matches. Sunday's matchup was the last home contest of the season for the Highlanders.
The Highlanders, who were mathematically eliminated from contention for a spot in the Atlantic Sun postseason tournament, will close out their 2015 slate with a pair of conference matches in Florida. NJIT will visit Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday in Fort Myers and then face Stetson on Sunday. Jacksonville will play in the A-Sun Tournament, to be hosted by Lipscomb starting on November 19.
Senior Emily Laskelle led Jacksonville with 11 kills, Ana Nieto-Gomez, another senior, added nine kills and Cristina Finan chipped in eight kills for the winners.
On the other side,
Danica Vukotic generated a match-high 12 kills in her final home contest for the Highlanders, while her twin sister,
Nina Vukotic had eight kills.
Tess Albyn finished with seven kills for the Highlanders.
Jizzyan Gesualdo, a 6-foot-2 junior setter notched 33 assists for JU, while NJIT's sophomore setter
Alyssa Armada had 30 assists.
Marija Tosic had the only two service aces for the Highlanders, while five different players had an ace each for the visiting Dolphins.
Each team had two players with impressive totals in digs. Jacksonville got 20 digs from Mayara Prestes and 13 from Finan, while NJIT's
Adriana Nieto came up with 19 digs and Armada had 14.
The total team blocks were close, with NJIT holding a 5.0-to-4.0 edge. Albyn of the Highlanders and Laskelle of the Dolphins each had four block assists to lead their respective teams.
Jacksonville never trailed in the opening set led by Laskelle's five kills.The Dolphins got out 7-1 and 11-3 and led by at least seven the rest of the way to 25.
Laskelle added eight kills for the visitors in a second set that saw three ties, the last one at 4-4, as JU broke the deadlock on back-to-back NJIT hitting errors.
The closet set was the third, as the Highlanders fell short of Jacksonville's pace by four points. Fittingly, Jacksonville's Laskelle delivered match point when her kill made it 25-21 to end the third set.
