Match Stats
- Sacred Heart 3, NJIT 1 (25-20, 25-11, 13-25, 25-17)
- Sacred Heart moves to 14-10, 7-6 EIVA; NJIT falls to 13-12, 6-7 EIVA
- Newark, New Jersey
- Attendance: 147
- Box Score
Sacred Heart improved its position to nab the final spot in the EIVA Tournament with a 3-1 win over NJIT on Friday night. The Pioneers won all major statistical categories in the match en route to the 25-20, 25-11, 13-25, 25-17 win.
Sacred Heart now sits at 7-6 in EIVA play, ahead of NJIT, George Mason and Harvard, which are all 6-7 with one match remaining. SHU faces Princeton (12-12, 8-5 EIVA) Saturday night, while NJIT and Harvard will play one another and George Mason takes on No. 1 seed Penn State.
The Pioneers hit .400 or better in the three sets they won, managing a .293 effort for the night. SHU also posted 10 blocks and served up five aces, while allowing NJIT nine stuffs and four perfect serves. The Highlanders hit just .179 on the night.
Redshirt sophomore right side Emerson Waumans led Sacred Heart with a match-high 18 kills, while hitting at a .519 clip. Senior outside hitter Christopher DeLucie added nine kills and five digs, while senior outside Michael Comens chipped in six kills, five blocks and five digs. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Taylor Bloomquist led the Pioneers at the net with six stuffs, while junior libero Joshua Ayzenburg tallied a match-high 11 digs.
Senior outside Jabarry Goodridge put down 17 kills and hit .343 for the Highlanders, but it was not enough. Goodridge also managed a team-best four digs. Redshirt junior opposite Raymond Kowalski added eight kills, while senior middle Luke Robbe put up a team-best five blocks.
Sacred Heart started the match with a pair of aces by setter Eduardo Zardo and continued on to a 10-3 lead. NJIT narrowed the gap to four as Kowalski turned in two kills. Back to back kills by Waumann boosted the lead back to seven at 17-10. Three more Waumann putaways put SHU on the hill at 24-17. The Highlanders staved off three set-point chances, before a service error the stanza.
A pair of blocks and two Waumann kills put Sacred Heart up 9-3 in Set 2. Three kills and an ace by DeLucie made it a 10-point game at 18-8. A service error slowed the Pioneers temporarily, but the Highlanders couldn’t stop a 7-2 set-ending run.
NJIT led Set 3 from start to finish. Kills by four different players, coupled with a pair of blocks, put the Highlanders up 16-8 at the midway point. Three kills, two blocks and an ace by Goodridge pushed the lead to 24-12. A service error ended the set.
After splitting the first 12 points of Set 4, Sacred Heart scored seven of the next nine to take a 13-8 lead. A 5-0 run, including two Bloomquist blocks made it 19-11. The Pioneers held the Highlanders at bay the rest of the way, ending the set with two Waumann kills and one by DeLucie.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Sacred Heart Athletics
The Sacred Heart men’s volleyball team kept their playoffs dreams alive, as they picked up a 3-1 win over the Highlanders of NJIT. SHU was led by Emerson Waumans who tallied an impressive 18 kills, of his 27 attempts, to finish the night with a .519 kill percentage. The Pioneers play their final game of the regular season tomorrow, as they take on the Princeton.
Noteworthy-
- Waumans was a force at the net, hitting .519 percent, and ended the night with 18 kills
- Joshua Ayzenberg, who leads the NCAA in digs per set, registered 11 total digs
- Taylor Bloomquist added six total blocks at the net, as he continues to display his dominance in blocking in the EIVA
- Eduardo Zardo, last weeks EIVA Offensive Player of the Week, dished out 34 assists on the night
SET 1-
- The Pioneers were red hot to start the match, jumping to a 10-3 lead following a Emerson Waumans service ace
- The Highlanders did their best to make a comeback but the Pioneers were at a pace, not looking back to take the first set 25-20
Set 2-
- The Highlanders started the second set with more promise, as the score stood 6-3 in favor of SHU, till the Pioneers went on an 4-0 run to move the score to 10-3, following a Waumans kill
- Sacred Heart was just too focused, as they sprung to a 18-8 lead after a Christopher DeLucie service ace
- The Pioneers ended the set in fashion, 25-11, as they moved to the third set in sights of a sweep
SET 3-
- The Pioneers started the third set slow, as NJIT jumped to a 9-4 lead
- SHU showed signs of fatigue as they trailed the Highlanders 19-10, after a NJIT service ace
- The Highlanders weren’t going down without a fight as they ended the third set, 25-13 to keep things interesting
SET 4-
- Each team started the final set exchanging points, as the score stood 6-6
- The Pioneers managed to regroup, as they went on a six point run to jump to a 11-7 lead, following an attack error from the Highlanders
- Sacred Heart had their eyes on the prize from the get go, and had no sight of letting this one slip out of their hands, as they took the final set 25-17, after a DeLucie kill
Courtesy: NJIT Athletics
NEWARK, NJ—Sophomore Emerson Waumans notched a match-best 18 kills for visiting Sacred Heart, as the Pioneers defeated NJIT, 3-1 (25-20, 25-11, 13-25, 25-17), Friday evening in EIVA Conference action at the Fleisher Athletic Center.
With the win, Sacred Heart improves to 7-6 in the EIVA, 14-10 overall while the Highlanders drop its fifth straight, falling to 6-7 in the EIVA, 13-12 overall. NJIT, still with an opportunity to advance to the EIVA Conference playoffs, the Highlanders must defeat the visiting Harvard Crimson on Saturday at 4pm. In the first meeting, the Crimson swept the Highlanders, 3-0. If the Highlanders win Saturday and Sacred Heart and George Mason both lose, NJIT and Sacred Heart will both end with a 7-7 mark in the EIVA. The tiebreaker procedure for the two tied teams is game winning percentage, which can only be determined after Saturday’s matches.
In addition to Waumas 18 kills, Christopher DeLucie followed with nine kills. Setter Eduardo Zardo piled up a match-high 34 assists, including a match-best three service aces as the Pioneers held a slight edge over the Highlanders, 5-4. Libero Joshua Ayzenbuerg notched 11 digs while Michael Comens and Taylor Bloomquist led all players with five block assists. The Highlanders were led by senior outside hitter Jabarry Goodridge, who posted a team-best 17 kills.
Setter Ricardo Whitaker recorded 32 assists while Goodridge and libero Shannon Heckman each posted four digs. Senior middle Luke Robbe led the Highlanders with five total blocks (1 solo, 4 assists).
In the first frame, the Pioneers raced out to a 10-3 advantage. The Highlanders battled back, cutting the deficit to within four, 20-24, after a kill by Goodridge, but the Pioneers held on to a 25-20 win.
Sacred Heart got off to a quick start in the second frame, 8-3, and later extended its lead to 18-8. The Pioneers never looked back, cruising to a 25-11 victory.
The Highlanders, which hit .500 in the third set as opposed to Sacred Heart, which finished -.176, got ahead 8-4 and pushed its lead to 14-7 after block assists by Whitaker and Luke Allmond. NJIT closed out the frame on a 5-1 spurt, to win 25-13.
Both teams traded points early in the fourth frame and with the score tied at 6-6, the Pioneers went on a quick 5-1 run, taking an 11-7 lead, resulting in an NJIT timeout. Sacred Heart scored five consecutive points, pushing its lead to 19-11 and went on to secure a 25-17 advantage to win the match, 3-1.
Prior to Saturday’s 4pm start, the Highlanders will honor its graduating seniors – Jabarry Goodridge, Luke Robbe, Brad Thele and team manager Kayleigh McCabe in pregame ceremonies.
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