FAIRFIELD, CT—The sets were all close, but in the end, it was Sacred Heart scoring a 3-0 men's volleyball sweep of NJIT Friday night in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association competition on Coach Bike Court.
Sacred Heart downed NJIT in the teams' first 2015 meeting on February 12 in Newark (17-25, 28-26, 21-25, 24-26). Friday night's sweep of the Highlanders did not come easily for Sacred Heart, which prevailed 25-14, 37-35 and 25-23. The result left the Pioneers 2-5 in the EIVA and 11-9 overall, while NJIT's EIVA mark is 1-7 to go with an 8-10 overall record.
The Pioneers had three attackers with double-figure kill totals, led by a match-high 14 for redshirt senior Enzo Mackenzie. Travis Vonholt, a junior middle blocker, put down 11 kills, and Austin Arcala added 10. Vonholt hit an impressive .833 on 12 swings with just one error. Sophomore setter Eduardo Zardo piled up a match-high 43 assists, while libero Joshua Ayzenberg dug-up a match-best seven digs. Two Pioneer defenders combined for six digs apiece—Enzo and Arcala.
The top hitters Friday for NJIT were
Jabarry Goodridge and
TJ Jurko, who led the Highlander offense with 11 kills each. Senior middle hitter
Ryan Thomas combined for a .455 hitting percentage with six kills on 11 swings with one error.
Setter
Zak Robben collected 32 assists and Goodridge and Jurko got two aces each for the Highlanders.
Sacred Heart opened the first set with a 7-3 lead, and later increased the Pioneer advantage to 16-9, cruising to a 25-14 win.
In the second frame, which saw 27 ties and nine lead changes, was played tight until 17-17, when the visitors scored three straight for a 20-17 advantage, resulting in a Sacred Heart timeout. The home team went on a 5-2 run for a 23-22 lead. NJIT's Goodridge evened the score at 23 with a kill. The set saw 12 more ties heading into the mid-30's, but it was the Pioneers who prevailed, scoring the final three points of the set for a 37-35 victory.
The seasaw action continued into the third set, with 14 ties and five lead changes. The back and forth action saw its final tie at 21 as the Pioneers scored back-to-back kills by Mackenzie to give Sacred Heart a 23-21 lead. After a timeout by the Highlanders, NJIT pulled within one, 23-22, on a Pioneer error. The Pioneers recorded a point pulling to match-point, 24-22, but NJIT's
Luke Robbe kept NJIT alive with a kill for a 24-23 score. Sacred Heart's Vonholt clinched the match with a kill for a 25-23 win.
NJIT will return to EIVA action on Saturday at 4pm when the Highlanders visit Harvard. In the first meeting in Newark, the Crimson defeated NJIT, 3-1. Harvard, coming off a 3-1 victory against Princeton, enters the match with a 5-2 EIVA record and 11-8 overall mark.
