CHESTER, Pa. – The Widener University men's volleyball team etched its name in the school record books on Thursday night as the Pride won the first match in program history, downing the Neumann Knights 3-0 at the Schwartz Athletic Center.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Matt Blaum led the Blue and Gold with a career-high11 kills and hit .556 for the match.
• A.J. Sungenis added nine kills while Wil Cacciatore had eight. Sungenis came up just a kill shy of a double-double as he also had 10 digs.
• Connor Johnson led the Pride with 12 digs and Billy Barclay had 30 assists.
• The 39 kills as a team were the second most in a match this season for WU.
• Widener hit .194 for the contest, the third straight match it has connected at a .190 clip or higher.

 
FIRST SET HIGHLIGHTS (25-18)

• Trailing 5-4, the Pride scored four in a row and five of six to take a lead it would not relinquish.
• Neumann Challenged, cutting the lead to a single point twice, including 19-18, but Widener responded, scoring six in a row to end the set, the final five coming on Cacciatore's serve.
• Blaum led the way with three kills in the set. Cacciatore, Sungenis, and Zac Piotti each had a pair.

 
SECOND SET HIGHLIGHTS (25-19)

• Widener raced out to a 5-1 lead and never trailed in the frame.
• The Blue and Gold opened a 20-13 lead before the Knights battled back, scoring five in a row to chop the lead to two.
• Undaunted, WU ripped off five of the final six points to close the set.
• Johnson had seven of his digs in the frame.

 
THIRD SET HIGHLIGHTS (25-12)

• A sloppy start to the stanza saw Neumann take a quick 4-3 lead.
• The Pride composed itself and rallied to net 10 of the next 11 points, getting three kills from Blaum and two from Sungenis as Widener took a 13-5 lead.
• WU never led by less than six for the rest of the set, pulling away by scoring six of the final seven points to close the match.
• The Pride hit .286 in the set with 16 kills against just six errors in 35 total attacks.

 
UP NEXT
Widener has nearly a week off before returning to conference action, taking on Wilkes on Wednesday, March 21. Opening serve from the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre is slated for 7:00 p.m.