Volleyball Defeats NJIT In Five Sets

Sept. 19, 2014

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Providence College volleyball team defeated NJIT, 3-2, on Friday night in the CCSU Blue Devil Invite, hosted by Central Connecticut. Sophomore Michelle Cruz (Midland Park, N.J.) registered a career-high 33 digs in the match. Providence's record now stands at 3-9 while NJIT moves to 4-9.

Providence won the first set, 25-16, to take a quick match lead. Senior Annie Russian (Round Rock, Texas) powered the offense with five kills in the set and a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage. As a team, the Friars had a .406 hitting percentage in the stanza.

The Highlanders took the second set, 25-22, to tie the match (1-1). Freshman Abbie Trzeciak (Cranberry Township, Pa.) had a team-best five kills in the set. There were 11 ties and five lead changes in the set.

The Friars took a 2-1 match lead by winning the third set, 25-21. Senior Mackenzie Ziegler (Portage, Wis.) and sophomore Kayla Fitzgerald (Redlands, Calif.) led the Friars with three kills apiece. Cruz added 11 digs.

NJIT retaliated to win the fourth set (26-24) and again tie the match (2-2). Junior Nicole Fletcher (Syracuse, N.Y.) paced the offense with three kills.

Providence captured the fifth and final set, 15-12, to win the match, 3-2. Trzeciak led the Friars with three kills.

Trzeciak recorded a team-best 13 kills in the match. Two other Friars reached double-digit kills with Russian and Fitzgerald registering 12 and 11, respectively. Junior Jordan Wiesler (Coconut Creek, Fla.) led the team with 50 assists. In addition to Cruz's team-high 33 kills, the defensive specialist also contributed five service aces. Senior Kelly Ashmore (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied four service aces. Trzeciak and Fletcher both had four block assists.

Danica Vukotic led NJIT with 18 kills. Fran Edmondson contributed 14 kills. Alyssa Armada tallied 52 assists and Nina Vukotic had 23 digs.

The Friars will play again tomorrow in two matches in the CCSU Blue Devil Invite. Providence will first compete against tournament host, CCSU, at 11:00 a.m. and then versus Hartford, at 4:00 p.m.

-GO FRIARS-

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Team Stats

TRZECIAK Abbie

Emily Horner

Kayla Fitzgerald

Nicole Fletcher

Players Mentioned

Kelly Ashmore

Michelle Cruz

Kayla Fitzgerald

Nicole Fletcher

Annie Russian

Jordan Wiesler

Mackenzie Ziegler

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