March 26, 2008

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's volleyball team returned to winning form with a 3-0 win over visiting SUNY-New Paltz in a non-conference match Wednesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher.

The Highlanders, who had come up short in four Spring Break matches--two in the Chicago area (at Loyola-Chicago and at #15 Lewis) and two in California (at Pacific)--came back home and swept New Paltz, 30-18, 30-27 and 30-22.

NJIT is 10-11 overall and the sweep of New Paltz ends the out of league schedule for the Highlanders with a 7-5 record, including 7-0 against non-league foes from the eastern part of the United States.

Aside from the obvious plus of winning the match, NJIT coach Ryan McNeil was able to use 11 different players, including eight who played in at least two games Wednesday.

The match action for so many players in the win over New Paltz could prove to be valuable as the Highlanders play their next three matches in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division, where NJIT is jockeying for postseason tournament seeding.

Eduardo Welter was NJIT's kills leader with nine, followed by Charles Bell (8), Amobi Armstrong and Greg Wagner (6 each) and Leonardo Paludo (5).

Rodrigo Correa had 24 assists in two games, while senior setter Mike Nonnenmann had 13 assists in one game.

Armstrong served a match-high four aces for the Highlanders and also had a team-leading six digs. Bell was NJIT's star at the net, leading NJIT to a 10-4 team blocking advantage with six individual blocks (two solo and four assists).

Alexander Jackson led New Paltz with nine kills, while Stephen Pendleton had 22 assists, Pedro Medina had nine digs and Jackson had a pair of blocks.

The only close game Wednesday night was the second, where NJIT trailed early, 3-6, but came back to lead by one on four occasions before finally going ahead for good, 18-17, on a kill for Armstrong.

That go-ahead point sparked a three-point run for the Highlanders, who later led by as many as five, 24-19. However, New Paltz fought back to within a point, 24-25, before Armstrong and Wagner registered kills to give NJIT the cushion it needed to secure the win in game two.

Next up for the Highlanders is a crucial EIVA Tait match on Saturday at 7 pm in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center, when NJIT hosts Juniata.

Juniata, which defeated NJIT, 3-2, back on February 23 in Pennsylvania, owns a one-match lead over the Highlanders in the Tait Division standings. Juniata is 4-5, while NJIT is 3-6, with three division matches (including Saturday) still to play in the regular season.