NEWARK, NJ – The NJIT women's volleyball team showed great fight on Sunday afternoon in the America East home opener, nearly fighting back to force a fifth set in a 3-1 defeat to UMBC at the Wellness and Events Center.

The Retrievers took each of the first two sets, aided in each frame by late scoring runs to help them take the 2-0 lead in the match. NJIT would flip the script in set three, building late momentum of its own.

In set three, UMBC opened up a lead as large as seven, 17-10, looking poised to take the match in straight sets. However, the Highlanders would score 15 of the next 18 points to capture the set. The run started with four straight NJIT points thanks to kills from Ema Torres and Mariana Cova. After an attack error gave the Retrievers a point, NJIT would rattle off the next six tallies, including back-to-back aces from Cova and capped by a kill from Aries Fontaine. With the lead now belonging to the home side, the teams traded the next three points, keeping NJIT ahead by one, 21-20. The Highlanders then took the next four points, two of which came on kills from Fontaine, to force a fourth set.
Set four was tightly contested, with neither team leading by more than three points at any time. Late in the set, NJIT found itself ahead after an Ines Varela attack error, 18-16. UMBC would turn momentum back in its favor, scoring five of the next six points to help lead them to the victory.

Cece Marino finished the match with 42 assists, the third-most in a match by an America East player this season. It marks the most assists in a four-set match by a Highlander since Juliana Impaglia's 48 assist performance against New Hampshire on Oct. 7, 2022.

Torres picked up a double-double, finishing with 14 kills and 10 digs. Doga Emil led NJIT in the digs column with 16 on the day.

Up Next
The Highlanders finish off non-conference play on Wednesday night as they travel to take on FDU at 7 p.m.