Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle volleyball scratched and clawed to a 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-27, 15-11) victory Tuesday evening over NJIT at Tom Gola Arena.

With the first set locked up at 20, the Explorers fell victim to a 5-0 NJIT run to end the frame, giving the Highlanders an early advantage. La Salle trailed the second set 16-13 before catching fire with a 12-6 run, highlighted by three Samantha Tulskie kills, to close out the period and tie the match at one set apiece. The Explorers showed their resiliency in the third set after being faced with set point, down 22-24. The blue and gold rattled off four straight to take a 2-1 advantage and possess control of the match. NJIT (8-13, 0-3 GWC) gave the home team a taste of their own medicine in the fouth frame, as La Salle served twice (24-23, 25-24) with match point advantage but were unable to finish off the pesky Highlanders. In the deciding fifth set, the Explorers came out sluggish and were down 8-3 at the halfway point when switching sides. However, La Salle was not to be denied, as an impressive 12-3 run dusted off the visitors en route to the emotional victory.

"This is great for us, even though it's a non-conference match," Tulskie said. "It's a great momentum swing for us headed into this weekend." 

On the match, La Salle hit .141 (54 kills-27 errors-191 attempts) while NJIT hit .154 (66 kills-33 errors-214 attempts). The Explorers posted a 98-93 dig advantage and an 8-5 team block advantage.

Tulskie amassed 16 kills (.143) and a season-best 32 digs in the contest, recording her 11th double-double of the season in style. Kelly Scanlon tallied her eighth double-double of the year with a team-high 18 kills (.172) and 14 digs.

"We needed this win more than anything," Scanlon said. "This is huge for our morale and confidence and will hopefully be a turning point for us.

"Playing five games is just exhausting and we got to the point where we weren't accepting anything else besides winning."

Emily Merrick notched a season-high 2.5 blocks while adding five kills (.167) and two digs to her stat line while Jennifer Whelan registered eight kills (.130) and added 1.5 blocks of her own. Rachel Melich and Michelle Healy split assist duties in half, recording 22 each. Breanna Mazalewski added 23 digs to aid the Explorer defensive effort.

La Salle (4-19, 0-7 A-10) resumes its conference schedule this weekend at Rhode Island (10/19, 7 p.m.) and Fordham (10/20, 7 p.m.).