NEWARK, NJ—TJ Jurko generated a match-best 19 kills and Kajetan Borecki followed close behind with 17 kills, as NJIT defeated visiting Coker, 3-1, in non-conference men's volleyball Thursday night in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The Highlanders rolled in the first set, 25-12, but Coker rallied for a 25-21 win in the second set, before NJIT swept the next two frames, 26-24 and 25-18.
 
The win over Coker pushed NJIT's record back into winning territory, at 6-5. Two of the wins have come at the expense of the Cobras, who lost at home to the Highlanders, 3-0, on January 29 in Hartsville, SC. Coker's overall record is 1-9.
 
In addition to Jurko, a redshirt junior and team captain, and Borecki, a senior, NJIT got 9 kills from the middle by senior Ryan Thomas, who committed three attack errors and hit to a .400 attack percentage.
 
Thomas also produced a team-leading four service aces and four other Highlanders served aces, with Zak Robben and Daniel Leung, each serving two of NJIT's 10 aces.
 
Robben, the senior setter, piled up 50 assists for the Highlanders.
 
On defense, NJIT got a match-leading 10 digs from senior libero Oren Zyndorf on the floor and junior Raphael Anthony was the top blocker for either side, with five blocks (3 block solos and 2 block assists). Thomas added four blocks (1 solo, 3 assists).
 
Sophomore Artur Cabral led the Coker attack with 13 kills and he also had four service aces. Freshman setter Aleksa Bijelic picked up 26 assists for the Cougars.
 
Freshman libero Jesse Day picked up 7 digs to lead Coker in that department, while Luke Grupe had 4 block assists and Leshon Alexander added 3 block solos for the visitors.
  
NJIT, which led the entire first set, pulled out to early leads of 8-2 and 12-3. The Highlanders later held two 10-point leads, including 21-11, before closing out the set on a 4-1 run.
 
Coker got its first set win after dropping four straight to the Highlanders (3-0 in South Carolina plus the first set Thursday) by taking NJIT, 25-21. Leading 10-9, the Cobras went on a 9-2 run for a 19-12 advantage the Highlanders could not completely overcome, despite cutting the late deficit to 21-23.
 
The third set was too close to settle in the normal 25 points, as the score was knotted at 21-21, 23-23 and 24-24, before NJIT got back-to-back kills from Anthony and Jurko to claim a 26-24 win.
 
The fourth set was closer than the 25-12 first frame had been, but the Highlanders won decisively, nonetheless. Robben, the NJIT setter, notched 14 assists, spreading the attack among Borecki (6 kills), Jurko and Thomas (4 kills each) in the set.
 
There were five tie scores in the clinching fourth set, but the Highlanders never trailed. They began with an 8-3 lead, but the determined Cobras got back into ties at a 10-10, 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15.
 
Borecki broke the tie with the first of his back-to-back kills, sparking a 5-0 run that put NJIT in command. Having built the 20-15 advantage, the Highlanders closed out the set and match with a 5-3 push to the finish.
NJIT, which is 6-2 in matches played outside the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, will play another non-league match when it hosts Charleston (WV) on Saturday at 7 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Charleston, which is in its first year of varsity men's volleyball, lost to NJIT, 3-0, on January 18 in West Virginia. When the Golden Eagles lost to the Highlanders back in January, they hadn't won a set in their first three matches. They got their first-ever win (3-0 over Bluefield of Virginia) in the match that immediately followed the one against the Highlanders.
 
They also picked up another win and will come to Newark off of a 3-2 loss in their latest match.
 
The two NJIT-Charleston contests have been non-league affairs, but the Golden Eagles were recently announced as the newest member of the EIVA, with a full conference slate in 2015-16.