Box Score
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team was upended, 3-1, by nonconference foe NJIT in the Knights' home debut on Wednesday at Stratis Arena. The loss drops FDU to 4-9 on the year as the Highlanders improve to 6-8.

FDU picked up the first set by a 25-18 margin thanks to a .424 hitting percentage. The Highlanders responded with wins in the final three sets however, finishing with a .351 hitting percentage for the match. NJIT's wins came by scores of 25-15, 25-9 and 25-21.

The Knights took an early 5-2 lead in the first set when senior Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep) and sophomore Hanifa Addi (Springdale, Md./Charles H. Flowers) combined on a block. Addi led all players with five block assists on the night, while Wheeler finished with two.

FDU took an 8-3 lead on one of freshman Maddie Gibbons (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview Heights)' six kills on the match before NJIT got back in the match and trailed by just two at 9-7 on a Nina Vukotic kill. Later in the first, back-to-back kills by Gibbons and Wheeler helped the Knights to a 16-10 advantage.

FDU claimed its biggest lead of the set at 20-12 on redshirt junior Violeta Slabakova (Shelby Township, Mich./Utica)'s first of seven kills in the match. For Slabakova, it was her first match since Nov. 14, 2010. Down the stretch, kills by Wheeler and freshmen Jordon Collis (Frisco, TX/Frisco) and Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) as well as a service ace by fellow freshman Corey Lostetter (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) gave the Knights a 25-18 win.

Moving into the second, an Addi kill and a Butler ace gave FDU a 5-2 advantage. NJIT fought back to even the second at 6-6 before Wheeler's ace made it 7-6. Following an NJIT service error to bring FDU to within one point at 10-9, the Highlanders went on a 15-6 run capped by a kill courtesy of Fran Edmondson for a 25-15 win to even the match at 1-1.

The Highlanders finished with their best statistical set on offense with 16 kills with just two errors on 24 attempts for a .583 hitting percentage.

With the momentum in their favor, the Highlanders jumped out to a 5-1 advantage to kick off the third. NJIT then saw its lead balloon to six at 9-3. FDU dug itself a double-digit deficit at 16-6 and was never able to recover. NJIT put together nine of the next 12 points for a 25-9 win to take a 2-1 set advantage.

The seesaw action in the fourth set featured 11 ties and three lead changes. Midway through the set, Wheeler's kill gave FDU a 12-11 advantage and after another tie, Gibbons helped the Knights regain the lead at 13-12 with a kill. Following a stretch where neither team could break away, NJIT took a 22-20 edge.  Wheeler's 15th kill made it 22-21 in favor of NJIT, but the Highlanders put together the final three points for a 25-21 win to take the match.

Wheeeler was the lone Knight with double-digit kills with 15, and Butler dished out 28 assists. Defensively, sophomore Deborah Hong (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) recorded a match-high 19 digs.

For NJIT, four players finished with double-digit kills led by Camilla Tirari's 13, while Anna Mercado helped the offense with 42 assists.

The Knights will make their Northeast Conference debut with a match against Quinnipiac on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 1 p.m. at home at Stratis Arena before taking on Central Connecticut State in another home match the following day at 1 p.m.