POUGHKEEPSIE, NY—Marist swept visiting NJIT, 3-0, in women's volleyball action Wednesday night, but it wasn't an easy sweep, as the Red Foxes edged the Highlanders, 25-21, 25-23 and 28-26 in McCann Arena.
Marist, which won its eighth match of the season, has won the last six out of seven matches. The Red Foxes completed their longest home stand of the season by winning five of the last six matches at home and improving to 5-1 in the McCann Arena.
The Highlanders, who will play at home for the first time, as well as begin Atlantic Sun Conference play on Friday at 7pm vs. Lipscomb in the Fleisher Athletic Center. NJIT is 4-9 as it prepares to face the defending A-Sun regular season champs.
No set Wednesday was decided by more than four points, as Red Fox sophomore Kelsey Ediger (12 kills, 11 digs) and senior Kelsey Lahey (10 kills, 12 digs) each registered double-doubles for the home team. Senior Courtney Shaw added 11 kills.
Setter Amanda Schlegel recorded a match-best 35 assists, while Lahey led the match defensively with 12 digs.
The Highlanders were led by senior outside hitter Danica Vukotic, who recorded a match-best 15 kills on 41 attempts for a .317 hitting percentage. Freshman Jovana Baosic combined for 11 kills on 25 swings with three errors for a .320 hitting percentage.
Freshman Emily Krachenfels posted 27 assists, six digs and six block assists on the night. Defensively, libero Adriana Nieto recorded 11 digs followed by 10 from Nina Vukotic.
Sophomore Tess Albyn led the way in front of the net with a match-best seven block assists as the Highlanders held a 10-to-3 team blocking advantage. Krachenfels recorded six block assists followed by three apiece from Anneka Harris and Danica Vukotic.
Lipscomb, from Nashville, TN, is a perennial women's volleyball power in the A-Sun, having won better than 76 percent (124-39) of its conference matches in its 12 years as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Bisons were 21-9 overall a year ago, including 13-1 in the A-Sun, which was good for the conference regular season title. They lost in the conference championship match, but still earned a spot in the 2014 NCAA Division I championship field with an at-large berth.
This season, Lipscomb is 7-6, but that record is deceptive, since the Bison have faced an extremely difficult pre-conference slate. They did, however, open their season with a 3-0 record in the Utah Classic, including a 3-1 win over host Utah, which was ranked #23 in the national preseason poll.
