LEWISBURG, PA - The NJIT women's volleyball team opened up play at the Bucknell Invitational on Friday, falling to LIU 3-1 in a neutral-site match hosted by Bucknell. 

The Highlanders were the first to 20 points in each of the first two sets, but were unable to finish them as the Sharks won both the first and second sets 25-21 to go ahead 2-0 in the match.

NJIT didn't go down without a fight, however, coming from behind in the third set to hold off LIU 25-23, clinching the frame on a kill from Emma Godwin. 

The Highlanders started the fourth set strong, going ahead 5-2 early, but ran out of gas as the Sharks took the final set 25-19 to clinch the 3-1 victory.

Seniors Adriana Goetz-Morales, Courtney Branch and Juliana Impaglia each had impressive matches to standout for NJIT. Goetz-Morales finished with a match-high 13 kills, while Branch recorded 11 of her own in just 17 attempts with no errors for a superb .637 hitting percentage. Impaglia finished with a double-double, dishing out a match-high 38 assists to go along with 10 digs.

Branch was also once again a force defensively, finishing with six total blocks, including one solo block as the Highlanders collected 11 blocks while the Sharks had six.

Freshman Taylor West made her collegiate debut on Friday and recorded a kill to go along with a pair of blocks.

NJIT will take on the host Bisons (9am) and George Washington (2pm) on Saturday to wrap up play at the Bucknell Invitational.