Women's Volleyball Completes Season Sweep of Binghamton

Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2021

The NJIT women's volleyball team defeated visiting Binghamton for the second straight day, taking down the Bearcats in four sets in America East action on Monday evening at the Wellness and Events Center.

"I'm just super happy for our student-athletes, we had a great two days on the court, and they deserve this feeling," said Head Coach Pedro Trevino. "They've sacrificed a ton to even make this season happen and it was great to see them get rewarded with a couple of wins against Binghamton and two close matches against UMBC."

NJIT took the first two sets 25-20 and 25-15, before the Bearcats made things interesting by holding off the Highlanders 25-23 in the third set. The Bearcats raced out to an early lead in the fourth set and led by as many as four, 18-14, midway through the frame. NJIT was able to come back and tie the score at 19-19, but Binghamton answered and led 21-20. The Highlanders were able to put together another run, scoring five of the next six points to clinch the match in four sets almost 24 hours after defeating the Bearcats in a five-set thriller on Sunday evening.

"That was the definition of a team win, everybody factored into it," added Trevino. "I'd like to single out Udo Nwosu, who entered the game late in the fourth set after not playing at all and helped will us to the victory. Binghamton went at her and she answered the call with three kills in four attacks down the stretch."

While Nwosu helped close the match, sophomores Adriana Goetz-Morales and Emma Godwin led the Highlanders from the first serve, tallying 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Goetz-Morales was also a factor at the service line as recorded a match-high four service aces to help the Highlanders win that category 13-6.

"Adriana was a star out there for us tonight," explained Trevino. "Not only did she have some huge kills, but she also kept the Binghamton attack off-balanced with her serves."

NJIT's freshmen trio of Kaitlyn Arias, Kyla Lannert, and Elley Torres also continued their impressive rookie campaigns. Arias led the squad with 17 digs, Lannert finished with a match-best 28 assists and 14 digs, and Torres finished with nine kills and 12 digs.

"This is a young team that just needed to learn how to win," concluded Trevino. "I think we took a big step this weekend."

The Highlanders wrap up their spring 2021 season next Saturday when they travel to New Hampshire for a pair of America East Conference matches. NJIT is slated to take on the host Wildcats at 2 p.m and then Albany in neutral-site match at 7 p.m.