NEWARK, NJ—NJIT men's volleyball won its sixth straight match of the 2016 season with an exciting 3-2 comeback victory against visiting Saint Francis U, ranked No. 15 in the latest AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll, in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) men's volleyball action Friday night at the Fleisher Athletic Center.
The Highlanders won Friday's thrilling match, 22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18 and 15-13, improving to 7-3 in the EIVA and 8-13 overall. NJIT's winning streak is its longest since 2007, when the Highlanders won six in a row to open the season.
NJIT earns the split of the two-match regular season series, as both teams met at Saint Francis U in Loretto, PA, back on February 20, when the Red Flash came out on top, 3-1. Saint Francis U came into Friday's contest winners of the last eight-out-of-nine and drop to 5-4 in the EIVA and 14-8 overall.
Victorious NJIT had three attackers with double-figure total kills, topped by reigning Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II National Player of the Week
Jabarry Goodridge's team-best 16 kills.
Brad Thele followed with 15 kills while
TJ Jurko added 11 for the winners.
Thele, the Highlanders outside hitter, had just three errors to go with his 15 kills in 20 swings, good for a .600 attack percentage.
Setter
Cameron Tait registered 46 assists, while Goodridge and Jurko accounted for seven of NJIT's 9service aces on the night.
The floor was balanced, with libero
Shannon Heckman and Goodridge each producing 8 digs, followed by Jurko (7), Tait (6) and Thele (3). At the net, senior
Raphael Anthony led the individual block honors with seven total blocks (2 solo, 5 assists) while Goodridge, added four block assists.
Saint Francis U had three attackers in double-digit kills: Jeff Hogan (17), Stephen Braswell (14) and Keith Kegerreis (10). Setter Daniel Ford had a match-best 49 assists for the Red Flash, while Brandon Buck and Ford each added two service aces.
On defense, the Red Flash got a match-high 16 digs from Gabe Woffindin. At the net, Mike Marshman had 4 block assists.
The Highlanders led a majority of the opening frame, and as many as four early on. With NJIT leading 20-18, the Red Flash scored four straight points, taking a 22-20 advantage. NJIT scored the next point on an attack error by the visitors but the Red Flash finished the frame on a 3-1 run, claiming a 25-22 win.
NJIT grabbed the second set from the beginning, jumping out 10-4. The visitors rallied back to within one late in the set, 20-21 on a kill by Braswell. But NJIT, with a one-point lead, finished the set on a 4-1 spurt, to clinch the 25-21 victory.
Saint Francis U won the first two points of the third set and led all the way to win, 25-18, and go up two sets to one, helped by four kills apiece from Braswell and Marshman.
In the fourth set, which saw six ties and one lead change, NJIT took control after a 9-9 tie, scoring four consecutive points for a 13-9 advantage. The Highlanders held a five-point advantage late, 20-15, and held on for a 25-18 victory to tie the match at two sets apiece.
There were 10 ties and five lead changes in the final frame, as the teams battled to reach 15 points first. NJIT scored the opening point of the set on a block solo from Anthony and the Highlanders held a 3-1 lead on kills by Jurko and Thele.
The Red Flash surged ahead, 8-6, after an ace by Buck, before the Highlanders went an on 3-0 run to pull ahead 9-8, after a service ace by Thele. The set saw five more ties, the final at 13 all, as the Highlanders scored the final two points on a kill by Thele and an attack error by the visitors to take the 15-13 victory.
NJIT will host perennial EIVA champion Penn State on Saturday, April 2, at 4 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center. The match will be televised on ESPN3.
