NEWARK, N.J. (Oct. 13, 2007) – Junior outside hitter Kristin Buter (Bowie, MD/Bowie) nailed 20 kills for visiting Saint Francis in a 3-1 women's volleyball decision over NJIT Sunday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The hard-hitting Buter was too much for the NJIT defense all day in her team's 30-25, 27-30, 30-26, 30-21 victory. Buter got her match-high 20 kills with just 5 errors in 48 attempts for a .312 attack percentage.
Teammate Lindsay Malloy (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) finished with a .417 attack percentage (14 kills, 4 errors, 24 attempts) and Shirley Miller (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) had 9 kills and a team-leading 17 digs for the Red Flash. Setter Rikki Myers (Noblesville, IN/Westfield) had a match-high 45 assists for the visitors.
Kristy Haeckel was the only consistently effective hitter for NJIT, notching a team-leading 13 kills with 4 errors in 32 attempts (.281). Katrina Hornstein picked up 12 kills and Agnieszka Pregowska had 9 for the Highlanders.
Erica Schultz finished with a team-leading 21 assists for NJIT, while Sabrina Baby's 30 digs were match-high. NJIT, which typically has an advantage serving, had just three aces to eight for Saint Francis on Sunday.
Saint Francis got 11 team blocks to eight for NJIT. Keshia Gibbs had six block assists to lead the Red Flash, while her teammate, Kayla Greenwalt (Colorado Springs, CO/Widefield) had five total blocks on two block solos and a three block assists. Rebecca Wilkinson led NJIT with the same stat line that Greenwalt had for the visitors.
The match featured extended runs by both teams, typified by the first game, where Saint Francis built a 21-10 lead, only to have NJIT come back and close the score to 24-26, before the Red Flash scored the 30-25 win.
NJIT's win in the second frame was more nip-and-tuck, as the teams fought for advantage and rarely won more than two or three points at a time. Pregowska had five of her kills and Baby had 11 digs in the set for NJIT.
Saint Francis opened the third game at 5-0, but NJIT came back, tying the score at 17, 18 and 19. Saint Francis had a small margin, 27-26 before closing the game with three straight points.
The visitors were never threatened in the fourth game, opening a 20-9 lead and cruising to the 30-21 victory in the match-clinching game.
