Box Score
The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team recovered from a 2-1 deficit to record a 3-2 win over the NJIT Highlanders on Wednesday night in Newark, NJ in a non-conference tilt. The win helps the Knights improve to 8-3, while the Highlanders' record slips to 3-7 on the season.
The Knights seized early control of the match with an 8-3 lead in the first set, but the Highlanders inched their way back and eventually tied the score at 13-13. There were seven ties in the first set alone, including late in the set with the score deadlocked at 18-18. Four FDU kills and three NJIT attacking errors later, the Knights took a 25-19 win for a 1-0 advantage in the match.
In the second set, the Highlanders jumped all over the Knights, taking a 7-1 advantage. Later in the set, the Highlanders had a 21-11 lead, but the Knights responded with a 4-0 run to cut their deficit to 21-15. The home team maintained its distance, however, and came away with a 25-17 win to even the score at 1-1.
With the Knights facing an 18-16 third-set hole, NJIT went on a 6-0 run to put the set out of reach. The Highlanders went on to take the set by a 25-17 score.
In the fourth, it was FDU's turn to jump to an early lead, claiming eight of the set's first 11 points. The Knights pushed their advantage to as much as six points on one of Chelsea Braga (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach )'s 15 kills to make it 19-13. Later in the set, Braga finished off the Highlanders with another kills to give the Knights a 25-20 win and force a decisive fifth set.
In the final set, the back-and-forth action left the score at 11-11. Down the stretch, FDU scored four of the last five points to earn a 15-12 win and take the match, 3-2.
“We fell behind in games two and three, but we were able to rebound to come back in game four with a strong performance and finish off the match in game five,” Head Coach Stacey Recanati said. “Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep) led the team with 27 kills with an outstanding performance at the net. Sarah Willey (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air) had 33 assists to lead the team, and Kelsey Semler (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) had 22 digs in the match to lead the defense.”
Wheeler had one of two double-doubles for the Knights with 14 digs to go along with her 27 kills. Taylor Roland-Buohl (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) had the other with 11 assists and 10 digs.
Deborah Hong (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) also turned in a strong defensive night with 15 digs.
The Highlanders' offense was led by Camilla Tinari's 16 kills and Anna Mercado's 41 assists. In the match, the Knights had 62 kills to NJIT's 50.
On the horizon for the Knights is their 2011 home opener, a 7 p.m. showdown with the Rider Broncs on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
