Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Volleyball team set a new program record on Tuesday, winning their seventh straight match, with a thrilling five-set victory over NJIT at the Spartan Athletic Complex.

STAC improves to 10-6 on the season, while NJIT slips to 7-9. 

The Spartans and Highlanders instant classic went the distance, as NJIT took the first set in narrow fashion, before STAC righted the ship and rallied to tie the match. A helter skelter third set went to the visitors from New Jersey. However, the maroon and gold battled to send the contest to a deciding fifth set with a strong fourth stanza. The teams would go back and forth in the final frame of the evening with St. Thomas Aquinas ultimately taking the set and the triumph by a slim margin.

Set Results

Set 1: NJIT 26/STAC 24

Set 2: STAC 25/NJIT 20

Set 3: NJIT 25/STAC 19

Set 4: STAC 25/NJIT 17

Set 5: STAC 15/NJIT 13

How it Happened

• As a team, STAC recorded 63 kills compared to NJIT's 48 The Spartans also had 15 blocks and 62 assists, while the Highlanders tallied 10 blocks and 47 assists.
• St. Thomas Aquinas College outhit New Jersey Institute of Technology by a .261 to .125 margin for the match.
• Gabriel Vieira led the Spartans offense with a match-high 28 kills. He also had a service ace, six digs, a solo block and six block assists.
• Marcus Franck tallied 56 serve assists (11.2 assists/set). Franck also accumulated three kills, 10 digs and three block assists for the maroon and gold.
• Jannis Freude recorded 16 kills, one assist, four digs and three block assists on the night.
• Kyran Versteegen registered 10 kills, two assists, six digs and a block assist for the Spartans.
• David Weiss picked up three kills, one assist, a dig and eight block assists for STAC on Tuesday.
• Raoul Kerkdijk contributed to the evening's festivities by picking up two kills, scoring two service aces, scooping up a pair of digs and shutting down NJIT's offensive attack with six block assists.
• Ivaylo Todorov accumulated one assist and 10 digs over five sets.
• STAC's previous win streak of six matches came at the end of the 2023-24 campaign (March 16-April 21), culminating in the maroon and gold capturing their first-ever ECC Tournament Championship.

Up Next

STAC hosts Merrimack College on Friday, March 14 at the Spartan Athletic Complex. First serve between the Spartans and Warriors is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.