Courtesy of NJIT Athletics
NJIT swept La Salle, 3-0, in women’s volleyball action Wednesday night, but it wasn’t easy, as the Highlanders edged the Explorers, 25-20, 28-26 and 25-16 at Tom Gola Arena.
The Highlanders snap a five-match losing streak with the victory over La Salle, improving to 3-10 on the season while the home team drops its 16th straight match, falling to 1-16 overall.
NJIT was paced by sophomore Danica Vukotic’s match-high 18 kills and six digs. Senior Cathy Leung followed with eight kills, while middle Julie Colombo added six.
Sophomore setter Fran Edmondson notched a double-double with 29 assists and 13 digs and libero Katie Goswick matched her career-high with 29 digs Wednesday at La Salle. Leung ranked second on the team with 20 digs.
As a team, NJIT held a 7-2 service ace advantage led by Goswick with three aces. NJIT’s Nina Vukotic combined for three block assists while Colombo and Edmondson added two block assists.
La Salle’s Laura Kuhlmeier led the Explorers with a double-double, 11 kills and 16 digs in the loss. Michelle Healy and Rachel Melich split time at the setting position piling up 14 and 10 assists respectively.
Erin Noga led the match with 30 digs followed by three Explorers reaching double-digit dig totals – Kuhlmeier (16), Elena Lamping (11) and Healy (10). La Salle’s Ashley Felton combined for six block assists and Healy added five in front of the next.
In the first frame, La Salle jumped out early with an 11-4 lead over the visitors. NJIT rallied back knotting the set twice, the final at 14-14, and pulled ahead by three, 17-14, after a La Salle attacking error. The Highlanders held at least a three-point advantage the rest of the way closing out the set on a kill by Danica Vukotic, 25-20.
In the second set, the score remained close early, as the Highlanders took a 16-12 advantage on a kill by Danica Vukotic. After an additional point by NJIT, La Salle scored the next six points pulling ahead, 18-17. The match saw six more ties, halting the set at 24, with a timeout by the Highlanders. Out of the timeout, the teams went back and forth, tying the set at 26, on a kill by NJIT’s Colombo. After an attack error by La Salle, Danica Vukotic put the set away with a kill for the 28-26 victory.
In the final set, the Highlanders exploded for an 11-2 run resulting in a timeout by the Explorers. NJIT held a seven-point advantage until the home team rallied for four straight points, pulling within five, 19-14 after a kill by Healy. NJIT scored the next four points for a 23-14 advantage and closed out the set on a kill by Colombo for a 25-16 victory.
The Highlanders will return to action a week from Wednesday hosting St. Francis Brooklyn on October 2 at 4pm at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
Both teams met earlier in the season with the Terriers sweeping the Highlanders, 3-0, at the SFC Terrier Invitational on September 6.
