NEW YORK—Host Columbia defeated NJIT in straight sets Friday night in opening day play of the Columbia Invitational women's volleyball tournament.
 
The victorious Lions (2-3) prevailed by scores of 25-19, 25-12, and 25-21 against NJIT (2-5). The defeat Friday halted what had been a two-match winning streak for the visiting Highlanders.
 
Senior middle Katarina Jovicic was dominant in the Columbia attack, as she notched 15 kills in just 19 attempts without an error for a dominant .789 hitting percentage. Senior Bailey Springer added six kills with only one error and junior Kesi Neblett had the same stat line for the winners.
 
Setter Alex Reale triggered the Columbia offense with a match-best 32 assists and the Lions had six services aces, paced by three from freshman Luciana Del Valle.
 
On defense, Reale was the digs leader with 12 and Columbia had an overwhelming advantage in total team blocks, 10-1. Jovicic had a block solo and five block assists and Zoe Jacobs finished with five block assists, followed closely by four block assists for Neblett.
 
The bulk of NJIT's kills came from senior twin sisters Danica Vukotic and Nina Vukotic, who combined to account for 24 of their team's 32 kills. Danica led in kills with 13, but she also had 13 attack errors and Nina had 11 kills and three errors in 29 swings (.276 attack percentage).
 
Freshman setter Emily Krachenfels had 25 of NJIT's 32 assists and Marija Tosic had the only service ace for the Highlanders.
 
Adriana Nieto, NJIT's freshman libero, registered a match-high 14 digs and Danica Vukotic added 11 digs for an offense-defense double-double.
 
Krachenfels and Anneka Harris had block assists to combine on the only total team block for the Highlanders.
 
NJIT led the first set early, but never by more than two points. Columbia took the lead for good at 11-10, but the Lions' advantage stood at just 15-13 before a 4-1 spurt created some distance, 19-14. The Highlanders climbed back to within three points, 16-19, but were unable to get any closer.
 
The Highlanders won the opening point of the second set, but Columbia took over in a big way and went up 11-3 before coasting to a 25-12 win.
 
The third and final set was more like the opening frame, as NJIT opened at 3-1. Columbia did not take a lead in the set until 16-15, which was part of a 6-2 outburst by the Lions.
 
The Highlanders had one final lead, 18-17, on Tosic's ace. But Columbia surged ahead for good on a 6-1 run that made it 23-19. Two Danica Vukotic kills trimmed NJIT's deficit to 21-23, but Columbia sealed the set and match on two Highlander attack errors, with match point coming on a combination block by the Lions' Jacobs and Jovicic.
 
The Highlanders will continue play in the Columbia Invitational with two matches on Saturday. At 11 am, NJIT will take on long-time power American and then wrap up with 4 pm match vs. Northeastern. American defeated Northeastern on Friday, also by a 3-0 score.