EDINBURG, Texas- University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) outside hitter Marci Logan had a match high 11 kills to lead the Broncs past the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in a 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-19) sweep Saturday afternoon at the UTPA Fieldhouse. The Broncs (7-17, 4-5) have taken both meetings against the Highlanders (4-18, 2-7) this season.
The opening set of the match was tightly contested as it featured nine ties. After the set's third tie the Bronc would go on a 7-1 run, caped off by a Cassandra Trevino service ace to give the Broncs a 12-6 lead, their largest of the set. The Highlanders would rally with a 10-4 run to tie the match at 16, prompting a UTPA timeout. NJIT would grab the lead five points later by taking a 19-18 lead. The Broncs trailed 24-23 until an attack error by Kristy Haeckel would tie the match at 24. The Broncs tallied the next two points to take the opening set 26-24.
NJIT started the second set on a tear by scoring seven of the first eight points, capped off by back-to-back kills by Janet Snell. The Broncs fell behind by six later after a Haeckel kill made it 10-4 Highlanders, forcing a Bronc timeout. The Broncs would go on a 21-9 run to close out the set with a 25-19 victory.
In the third set the Broncs scored nine of the first 10 points to gain a comfortable 9-1 advantage. The Highlanders wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way as the Broncs completed the sweep with a 25-19 third set victory.
Logan added 12 digs defensively to go with her 11 kills for another double-double. The 11 kills now has Logan just nine kills away from reaching 1,000 kills for her career. Ijanae Holman also chipped in with 10 kills for UTPA. Rita Gonzalez was the solid on her set-ups with 35 assists for the match. Kaitlin Vasquez was solid on defense earning a match high 23 digs.
Janet Snell and Barbara Hughes each had nine kills to lead the Higlander offense. Anna Mercado led with 19 assists, while Fernanda Lima led defensively with 21 digs.
The Broncs will have three-straight matches on the road beginning on Thursday when they travel to face Idaho State for a 6:00 PM match. The next night the Broncs will continue Great West Conference play when they face Utah Valley.
