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 Amobi Armstrong's 12 kills led NJIT |
March 1, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - Penn State, the nation's number one team, topped visiting NJIT, 3-0, in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division action Saturday night.
The Nittany Lions, who improved to 18-0 overall with Saturday's win, swept the match from the Highlanders, 30-20, 30-24 and 30-22.
It was the second win this season for the perennial EIVA champions over NJIT, as Penn State also took a 30-27, 30-23, 30-25 win from the Highlanders on February 2 in Newark.
Penn State is 9-0 atop the EIVA Tait Division, while NJIT is 2-5 in Tait play and 7-6 overall.
NJIT's kills leader on Saturday was Amobi Armstrong, who killed 12 attacks, while Leonardo Paludo finished with nine and Eduardo Welter added eight.
Rodrigo Correa and Mike Nonnenmann shared the setting duties for NJIT and Correa had 17 assists and Nonnenmann had 14.
The serving game was even with two aces for each team, but there was a high number of serving errors on both sides, as Penn State committed 20 errors and NJIT had 14. Armstrong and Paludo served on ace apiece for the Highlanders.
Paludo's five digs led the NJIT floor defense and the senior also had a block solo and a block assist for NJIT, which had a 9.5-to-3 team blocking deficit against the tall front line of the top-ranked Nittany Lions.
Matt Anderson led Penn State with a match-best 16 kills and Max Holt and Ryan Sweitzer chipped in with 11 kills apiece. Setter Luke Murray collected 43 assists, while Anderson's eight digs and Holt's five blocks paced the home team.
NJIT will visit Princeton for another EIVA Tait Division matchup on Wednesday at 7 pm.
Although it will be the first divisional meeting between the teams in several years, NJIT has played three matches against Princeton in the previous two seasons.
In 2006, Princeton won the regular season meeting, 3-2, and then eliminated the Highlanders from the EIVA playoffs with a 3-1 win that included three games that needed extra points, one of which was a 42-40 marathon win for the Tigers in the second game.
Last season, Princeton was a 3-1 winner of the Highlanders. All three matches the last two years were played at Princeton.
