FAIRFIELD, CT—Sacred Heart earned its first EIVA win of the season, defeating visiting NJIT, 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-9, 26-24), Friday evening at the Pitt Center.
The win improves the Pioneers to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the EIVA, while the Highlanders fall to 4-6 on the year and 0-2 in EIVA play.
Sacred Heart's Tom Wisniewski shared match-high honors with NJIT's
Alvaro Gimeno, as the two combined for 10 kills each. Noah Richetti led Sacred Heart with a match-best 39 assists, while Blake Cox recorded a match-high 17 digs.
In addition to Gimeno's 10 kills, senior libero
Chris Wise notched 11 digs to lead the NJIT defense. Freshman setter
Roque Nido piled up 20 assists in the loss.
In front of the net,
Luca Berger registered seven total blocks. Three different NJIT players registered a pair of aces as the Pioneers led that category, 9-7.
The first frame was played close as both teams battled to an 8-all tie. The Pioneers used a 6-2 run, to give the home team a 14-10 advantage. After the home team pushed its lead to 19-12, the Highlanders slimmed the lead to four, 22-18, before the Pioneers scored the last three out of four points to secure the 25-19 victory.
A back-and-forth affair in the second set, the match saw its final tie at 18-all, and NJIT would go on a 7-3 spurt to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 victory.
In the third frame, the Pioneers scored the first five points of the set. NJIT cut the Pioneer deficit to six, 12-6, but the Pioneers used a 9-0 run to increase its lead to 21-8 and closed out the set scoring the last four straight, for a 25-9 win.
The fourth stanza, the closest of the four, saw the Highlanders jump out to a 5-0 advantage, resulting in a Sacred Heart timeout. The Pioneers responded with a 11-3 spurt, pushing its lead to 11-8. Both teams traded points into the mid-teens and into the early twenties, when the set saw another tie at 21-all. The Pioneers used a short 3-0 run to hold a 24-21 lead. NJIT responded by knotting the contest at 24-all before Sacred Heart closed out the set with a kill and attacking error by the Highlanders.
NJIT will return to action on Saturday at 5pm when the Highlanders visit Harvard. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
