THE VECTOR
Sports
Week of November 6, 2018
Dolphins Survive in 5 Set Thriller By NJIT Athletics
NEWARK, NJ – Jacksonville ended a thriller by tallying the final three points in the fifth set, defeating NJIT, 17-15, to seal the road victory at the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) on Friday. The Dolphins were facing elimination until a kill by junior Mallory Mattingly evened the score, 15-15, in extra points. Jacksonville (4-21, 3-10 ASUN) won by scores of 17-25, 25-20, 2522, 17-25 and 17-15 and has now won back-to-back matches for the
first time this season. NJIT (4-25, 2-11 ASUN) has dropped eight-consecutive matches since posting back-toback conference victories Oct. 6 and Oct. 9. NJIT forced a deciding set after recovering in the fourth stanza – staying alive with a 25-17 win. The Highlanders reeled off the final seven points – the last six of which came off of serves by senior Emily Krachenfels and three on kills by freshman Makayla Greenfield.
Greenfield posted a set-high four kills, including set-point on an assist from senior Adriana Nieto. Jacksonville sophomore Hannah Marchand boasted a match-high 20 kills while her teammate, senior Lauren Petersen, handed out a match-best 53 assists. Junior Madi Busler led the Highlanders with 17 kills. Freshman Marissa Soistman (24) edged junior Liz Benson (22) for the teamhigh in assists. Nieto finished with a match-high 23 digs. Senior Jovana Baosic had eight blocks, including a match-high seven block assists. Busler again got the Highlanders off to a fast start – recording five kills in NJIT’s 25-17 victory in the first set. Up 9-8, the Highlanders reeled off 16 of the final 25 points for a 25-17 edge. Benson tallied eight assists in the set including two in a row that sparked the run. Jacksonville stormed back to take the next two sets, 25-20 and 25-22. In the second set, Mattingly did her own “hit man” impersonation
by registering a set-high seven kills. Her final two provided the Dolphins with two of their final three points to even the match. Petersen also had an eye-popping performance with 18 assists in the second stanza. The third set featured an impressive Jacksonville comeback. Down 21-17, the Dolphins reeled off eight of the final nine points for a win – five stemming off serves from sophomore Madison Rayam. In fact, Jacksonville crawled back from a deeper hole after backto-back Busler kills extended the NJIT lead to 17-10. Grad student Sara Dyslin and Marchand led the way with six and five kills, respectively. The Highlanders will complete the home portion of their schedule with Senior Day on Sunday against Stetson University (13-10, 5-6 ASUN). The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the WEC in Newark.
NJIT Wraps-Up Two Day Meet SMITHFIELD, RI -- Freshman Kai Legband stole the headlines for NJIT as the Highlanders swimming and diving team wrapped up a two-day meet at Bryant University on Saturday. The meet also features women’s competition between Bryant, Central Connecticut University and Wagner University. Legband, who won his first race as an NCAA student-athlete in the last meet against UMass (Oct. 27), attained two individual first-place finishes at this meet. On Friday, the Union, N.J., native earned the top finish in the 50 Yard Freestyle with a time of 21.27 -- 0.20 faster than second-place Bryant finisher Andrew Allen (21.56). But he wound up making more of a splash on Saturday. Legband paced the pack in the 100 Yard Freestyle, topping the second-place finisher by nearly two full seconds. His time of 46.19 set a pool record at Chace Athletic
Center. He wasn’t done. The product of Union H.S. later set another pool record leading off the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 45.82. The quartet wound up finishing second in the race with a time of 3:13.56. Legband also notched a second-place finish in the Men 100 Yard Butterfly (53.03) on Saturday. There were also several other notable performances turned in by his Highlanders teammates. “I was really pleased with how the team stepped up and raced both days,” first-year head coach Ron Farina said. “We still have some good training to get in before the holiday as we prepare for the ECAC championships in December. I like where we are right now.” Freshman Joshua Franco earned the other individual first-place finish captured by NJIT. The Hillsborough, N.J., native paced the sixman field in the 200 Yard Freestyle
RECENT RESULTS
on Friday, finishing with a time of 1:46.09. He touched with less than one second to spare against a pair of Bulldogs swimmers. Franco also placed second in the 200 Yard IM (2.01.10) and in the 500 Yard Freestyle (4:51.18) on Saturday. The Highlanders also had several other second-place finishes. In the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay on Friday, the quartet of Franco, juniors Nicholas Lyons and Tyler Pollock, and Legband posted a 1:26.54 -- trailing only one relay team from Bryant that finished with a 1:25.15. Additionally, the 400 Yard Medley Relay team of Franco, Lyons, sophomore Mattheau Bonner and Legband touched second with a 3:35.59 during the Day 1 events. The same group placed second on Saturday in the 200 Yard Medley Relay with a time of 1:37.14. Lyons finished second in the 100 Yard Breaststroke (59.61) on Friday as well as in the 200 Yard Breast-
stroke on Saturday (2:12.44). Coming off a pair of wins last week, Bonner was runner-up in the 200 Yard Butterfly with a time of 1:58.90. Finally, freshman Lane Griffis placed a comfortable second in the Men 1000 Yard Freestyle with a time of 10:20.67. On Saturday, freshman Edward Madrigal recorded a second-place finish in the 200 Yard Backstroke (2:02.81). Also of note on Saturday, freshman Justin Andersen swam to a fourth-place finish in the 400 Yard IM (4:37.18). On the diving side, junior Cole Becker led the Highlanders with a fourth-place finish in the One Meter Dive (192.70) while senior Avery Bechtel paced NJIT with a third-place rank in the Three Meter Dive (215.60).
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Men’s Basketball Names Co-Captains By NJIT Athletics NEWARK, NJ -- The NJIT men’s basketball team has selected senior Reilly Walsh and junior Shyquan Gibbs as co-captains for the 201819 season, as voted on by teammates Friday. The two returnees were the only players to start all 30 games for the Highlanders last season. “It is a great honor to announce Reilly Walsh and Shyquan Gibbs as team captains for this season. Not only have Reilly and Shyquan performed tremendously on the basketball court, both are the true definition of a student-athlete,” said Brian Kennedy, who enters his third season as NJIT men’s basketball head coach. “Both represent the very prestigious Albert Dorman Honors College here at NJIT; both are very involved with the athletic department, fellow students, student-athletes and the NJIT community as a whole. They are great role models for all student-athletes.” Walsh, voted by fans as the ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, has been selected to the ASUN All-Academic Team in backto-back seasons. As a sophomore, he became the first NJIT player to achieve the honor while being the only selection with a 4.0 grade point average. As a junior last season, the Staten Island native wast the lone unanimous selection while again being the only member with a 4.0 GPA. A management information systems major, Walsh was also recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the prestigious NABC Honors Court. Additionally, he was named to the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) Scholar-Athlete Team and was presented with the Joseph M. Fitzgerald Award by NJIT Athletics as the junior with the highest GPA (one of two honorees with a 4.0). Gibbs, the St. Anthony (NJ) High School valedictorian in 2016, was also selected to the ASUN All-Academic Team last season. Additionally, the business major was named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll. Gibbs has appeared in 60 of 61 Highlanders games since his arrival in Newark, starting 13 games at point guard as a freshman. Last season, the Hillside, N.J., native ranked seventh in the ASUN in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.0) while averaging only one turnover every 23.1 minutes. In addition, he shot a sizzling .500 (24-for-48) from threepoint territory, which would have ranked second in the conference had he enough attempts to qualify. “At NJIT, we pride ourselves in being true student-athletes -- being students first, athletes second,” Kennedy said. “In today’s age of big money, win-at-all-costs college football and men’s basketball, these two are the epitome of student-athletes.”