CHARLESTON, W. Va. - The University of Charleston Men's Volleyball team dropped their second home game on Saturday afternoon to the Highlanders from NJIT in four sets, losing 3-1. After dropping the first two sets, the Golden Eagles stormed back to win the third, before dropping the fourth. Charleston was led by Maarten Bartels with ten kills and Arthur Sueur, who both had eight kills.
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JUST THE BASICS
SCORE: Charleston: 1 NJIT: 3
LOCATION: Charleston, W. Va – Wehrle Innovation CenterÂ
TEAM RECORDS: Charleston (2-4, 2-4 EIVA) NJIT (5-3, 5-1 EIVA)
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Golden Eagles got off to a strong start, playing very even back-and-forth volleyball with the Highlanders through the first half of the opening set, with NJIT taking an advantage midway through. The set ended in NJIT's favor, with a score of 25-16.
In the first set, the Highlanders played well rounded as a team having a hitting percentage (.55%) while the Golden Eagles hit .176%. NJIT led the advantage in errors, as they had only two to Charleston's four.
The second set saw NJIT take an early 5-1 lead and they never looked back. Charleston was able to pull closer late in the set, making it 16-13, but the Highlanders continued to push the lead as they went on a 5-0 run. NJIT was able to close out the set 25-22.
Set three went back-and-forth, with neither team being able to take an early lead and hold it. After two consecutive kills by Bartles, Charleston was able to take a lead late, 20-17. NJIT was able to tie the set at 20 before a service error gave the lead back to the Golden Eagles. Charleston was able to hold onto the late lead and take the set 25-23.Â
Despite a hard-fought fourth set, the deficit was too much to overcome as the Highlanders took the final set 25-21.
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NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Julian Meissner led the way for the Highlanders with 15 kills and a .444 hitting percentage, while Luca Berger ended with a hitting percentage of .786 on 14 attempts. Bartels led the way for the Golden Eagles as he was able to record 10 kills. Diego Villafane had 30 assists in the game along with two digs. Diego also led the way for Charleston, recording a .714 hitting percentage on seven attempts.
UP NEXT:
Charleston will return to action next Friday night, taking on the Pioneers of Sacred Heart with match time set for 7:00 PM at the Wehrle Innovation Center.
