PHOENIX—Grand Canyon set the tone early through the first two sets, and pulled away from visiting NJIT in the final set for a 3-1 men's volleyball victory Friday evening at Antelope Gymnasium.

Grand Canyon won the first two sets, 25-17 and 29-27, but the Highlanders battled in the third set for a 25-21 victory.  The Antelopes went on to win 25-20 in the fourth set to secure the win.

Grand Canyon, which competes in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, and most recently split with No. 13 Lewis University, has won its last two matches, improving to 7-3 on the season.

Outside hitter Gerrard Lipscombe led the Antelopes with 20 kills for the match, only, committing one hitting error for an impressive .559 attack percentage. He also added nine digs and three total blocks.

NJIT (0-6) got 16 kills from junior Jabarry Goodridge.  Redshirt senior TJ Jurko had 12 kills while Luke Robbe and Raymond Kowalski added eight kills. 

Robbe, the Highlanders 6-foot-8 middle, finished the match with an impressive .583 hitting percentage on 12 attempts with just one error. Redshirt freshman Kevin Myren put together a strong performance in the middle, combining for six kills on 13 swings with no errors, for a .462 hitting percentage.  Myren added five total blocks (1 solo, 4 assists) to pace the Highlanders in front of the net.

Freshman setter Ricardo Whitaker piled up 44 assists, while classmate Chris Wise and Kowalski notched 10 digs defensively for NJIT.  Goodridge added nine digs, just missing a double-double performance.

NJIT will have a chance for the split on Saturday at 8 pm (ET).