ASTON, Pa. – On a night when they celebrated their senior
Christian Johnson, the Neumann University Men's Volleyball completed a non-conference victory over Immaculata University on Thursday night, 3-2.
Trey Edmonds led the Knights with 21 kills and 11 digs.
JP Perdomo had 16 kills and 13 digs. Grad student
Brandon Baskerville nailed down a team-high 21 digs and
Noah Banaag had 48 assists.
The match started very tight with neither team grabbing more than a one point lead until Neumann took a 9-7 lead. With the Knights carrying a 15-14 lead, Immaculata scored six in a row for a 20-15 edge. Neumann was able to fight back to tie the set at 23 but the Mighty Macs scored the last two points to win.
The second set started in a similar fashion but this time it was Neumann who would find a run. After taking a 10-9 lead, Neumann would put together a few runs to assert dominance in the set. First, it was a three point push for a 13-9 lead. Later, a 4-0 run made it 18-11 and the Knights coasted to a 25-16 second set win.
In the third, it was even at eight when Neumann scored five of six for a 13-9 edge. After trading points for awhile, Immaculata eventually got even at 18 apiece. From there, Immaculata scored two out of every three points until they grabbed the set, 25-22, for a 2-1 set lead.
Neumann powered ahead in the fourth, 5-2 but Immaculata immediately roared back to tie it at five. Even at nine, the Knights scored four straight and stayed ahead with a 17-13 lead. Neumann stayed in the lead at 20-15 but Immaculata fought back to equalize at 23. The Knights secured the last two points to force a deciding fifth set.
Even at three, Immaculata went on a 4-0 run and took a 7-3 lead, forcing a Neumann timeout. After the break, the Mighty Macs stayed ahead, leading 13-11. With Johnson serving, Neumann would score the last four points to take the set and the match.
Neumann (10-9, 3-1 United East) will take the weekend off and come back to the Mirenda Center on Tuesday night when they host Gallaudet University for a 7:00 PM start.
