NEWARK, N.J. - The St. Francis Brooklyn men's volleyball team played its final road game of the season, as the Terriers made their second trip to the Highlands of Newark for a Friday evening match against NJIT, and their first as Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foes.
The Terriers (10-14, 4-11 EIVA) took their first set off the NJIT as a program in their two meetings, but the Highlanders (14-10, 9-6 EIVA), the second-best team in the conference, took the win 3-1.
NJIT took the initial 2-0 lead in the first set, but quickly rifled off three kills from Jack Hershman and Bartek Zielinski to go back in front. The Terriers benefitted from three Highlander attack errors after the hosts tied the match to go up 7-3.
St. Francis played with the lead for nearly half the first set, with five different Terriers recording a kill, led by Hershman with four. NJIT rallied back, down 10-6, to tied the match at 10-all, and re-took the lead 13-11. A late kill by David Vorfi tied the set at 16, and a Hershman kill four points late tied things up again at 18.
The Highlanders hit back with a 5-1 rally to effectively put the set out of reach, taking the first 25-23.
SFBK was up to the task in the second set, hitting its best of the match at 22.9%. With St. Francis (72%) and NJIT (68%) both siding out at a high percentage, it was a back-and-forth affair, tied as late as 21. Zielinski rocketed home a pair of kills to put the Terriers up 23-21. The two-point cushion was enough to hold NJIT, as Vorfi scored the set winner with his ninth kill, 26-24.
Play rebounded the opposite direction in the third set, with NJIT taking an 18-25 win.
With conference seeding on the line for NJIT, the Terriers again pushed them to the brink in the fourth. St. Francis fought back to tie the set at 19-all, and went ahead on one of Andrea Lancianese's four kills in his return to action for the first time in more than a month. They would trade points over the next six, leaving the Terriers with a chance to force a fifth set up 22-21. NJIT answered back by scoring four of the next five points to close out the win, 25-23, and take a 3-1 match win.
TEAM LEADERS
David Vorfi recorded double-digit kills for the 13th time this season, matching a game high with 12 kills. He added 9 digs, 1 block, and 1 ace on Friday night.
Lucas Blanco notched his third-highest assist total in the 2022 with 38 against NJIT, adding 6 digs, 1 ace, and 1 block.
Nicola Iannelli led all players with 11 digs, and contributed 4 assists.
Bartek Zielinski hit double-digit kills for the first time since the Terriers' record-setting match against George Mason on Mar. 26, recording 10 kills.
In his return to competition for the first time since Mar. 8, Andrea Lanciancese hit for .375 with 4 kills, adding one dig.
NEXT UP: The Terriers close out the regular season with Senior Day against NJIT on Saturday afternoon. First serve is set for 4:00 p.m. and the match will stream live on NEC Front Row.
