LOUDONVILLE – Coming home to the Alumni Recreation Center for the first time this season, the Siena  volleyball team rewarded the fans with some early season momentum as the Green and Gold topped the NJIT Highlanders by a final score of 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 16-25, 25-21) Wednesday night.
 
Freshman Maria Llinas and Sol Guidarelli stole the show for the Saints, as Llinas tossed out 49 assists to pair with six digs leading the offense. Guidarelli notched a match-high 14 kills for the Green and Gold, adding seven digs. Classmate Ally-Reese Williams continued her dominance, finishing with her second career double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs on the match. Sophomore Maddy Dunigan was also a force at the net, smashing 10 kills and having a hand in five of Siena's 10 team blocks. Abby Huffman also chipped in with a solid nine kills, while freshman Gracie Halley hit double-digit digs with a team-high 11.
 
For NJIT, Susan Blake and Madi Busler each collected 10 kills apiece. Defensively, Olivia Welsch had a match-high 13 digs, followed by 12 from Liz Benson. The Highlanders also were strong at the net with nine team blocks, as Courtney Branch helped in that department with a hand in six of the nine blocks which included three solo blocks.
 
"That was a nice home opener win for the team," said head coach Vilis Ozols. "They showed some really nice stuff early and they fought off the NJIT rally. Abby [Huffman] had a great match offensively, and Maria [Llinas] did a wonderful job running the offense."
 
The Saints started strong in the first set, as they worked to an early 16-10 lead thanks to a 4-0 run that included kills from Williams and Dunigan. The Highlanders would pull off a run of their own, and battle the Saints to a 22-20 score after a Saints attack error. But it would be junior Nicole Deobler stepping up at the end of the set to collect a pair of kills, sandwiched around a service ace from Llinas to take the set 25-20.
 
It would a rollercoaster second set for the Green and Gold, as another fast start saw them take an 8-2 lead early. The eighth Siena point forced an NJIT timeout, which would help the Highlanders turn the tables out of the timeout. NJIT would score the next six points to tie up the set at 8-8. But the Saints would manage to score in chunks throughout the set to take a comfortable lead. Siena would once again score three straight points to close out the set, with kills from Huffman and Williams sandwiching a service ace from Guidarelli clinching a 2-0 lead. But NJIT responded in the third set, scoring in bunches much like the Saints did in the second set to take a third set win by the score of 25-16. Headed to the fourth set, the Saints would hold the 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Blocks help aid the Saints lead in the fourth set, as Huffman stepped in paired with Williams and Llinas to stuff a pair of NJIT rallies and take an 8-3 lead. From that point, the Highlanders could get no closer than four points throughout the duration of the set until they came within three with the score 24-21. After having a 24-18 score thanks to a huge block to set up match point from Dunigan and Guidarelli, NJIT began a rally with three straight points to cut down the Siena lead. Williams would step in on the ensuing rally and smack the game-clinching kill to give Siena the 25-21 win in the set, and 3-1 overall victory.
 
Siena returns to the court this Saturday, September 21 when they open MAAC play at home in the ARC. They will take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats beginning at 1 p.m.