FAIRFIELD, CT—The sets were close, but in the end, it was Sacred Heart scoring a 3-0 men's volleyball sweep of visiting NJIT Friday night in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) competition in the Pitt Center.
The Highlanders took the Pioneers in a five-set tilt in the teams' first 2016 meeting on February 26 in Newark (25-16, 20-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-11). Friday's sweep of the Highlanders did not come easily for Sacred Heart, which prevailed 25-19, 25-18 and 25-23. The result left the Pioneers 5-8 in the EIVA and 7-16 overall while NJIT's EIVA mark is 7-6 to go with an 8-17 overall record.
The top four teams advance to the 2016 EIVA Championships, which will be hosted by #1 Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. NJIT will clinch a playoff berth with two losses by Harvard, George Mason or Saint Francis (PA) or by tying Harvard in the standings. The Highlanders will visit Harvard on Saturday at 4 pm. NJIT won the first meeting of the season against Harvard, 3-2, on February 27 in Newark.
Sacred Heart hit a combined .487 for the match, led by a team-high 14 kills for Austin Arcala. Three different Pioneers – Michael Comens, Taylor Bloomquist and Robert Costigan each put down nine kills for the home team. Costigan recorded a .615 hitting percentage on 13 attempts with just one error while Arcala hit .565 on 23 swings and one error.
Pioneer setter Eduardo Zardo notched a match-best 40 assists while defensively Costigan combined for a match-best nine digs and in front of the net Bloomquist posted three block assists.
The service ace category was even – 6-6 – paced by Highlander senior
TJ Jurko with three aces and Sacred Heart's Arcala and Costigan with three apiece.
The top hitter Friday for NJIT was junior outside hitter
Jabarry Goodridge, who led the Highlanders offense with 17 kills. Jurko added nine kills for the visitors. The Highlanders use two setters –
Cameron Tait and
Ricardo Whitaker, with each piling up 17 assists.
Junior outside hitter
Brad Thele led NJIT defensively with five digs while adding four kills on six attempts with no errors. Libero
Chris Wise combined for four digs. Senior middle
Raphael Anthony led in front of the net with five block assists, followed by Goodridge with three (1 solo, 2 assists).
In the first frame, the home team jumped out to a 10-5 advantage and extended its lead to eight, 18-10, after five consecutive points. NJIT rallied off three straight points late in the set, pulling to within four, 17-21, but the Pioneers, who hit .500 for the set, finished on a 4-2 spurt for the 25-19 victory.
NJIT scored the opening two points of the second set, which saw five ties and three lead changes. Sacred Heart answered with three straight points, pulling ahead, 3-2. The visitors went on an early 4-1 run to regain the lead, 6-4, after a kill by Jurko. The set went back-and-forth until the home team took control and went ahead, 17-16, after a 5-1 run. NJIT cut the lead down the three, 17-20, on three consecutive points, but the Pioneers ended the set on a 5-1 spurt and cruising to a comfortable 25-18 victory.
In the third and final set, the tightest of the three frames, Sacred Heart took control with an 10-5 lead, behind a 5-1 run. The visitors rallied back, slimming the Pioneer lead to two, 13-11, after four straight NJIT points. The match saw two late ties, 21-21 and 22-22 and the home team capitalized, securing the win with a 3-1 run to finish off the sweep.
