March 8, 2008

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - NJIT senior Leonardo Paludo showcased his array of skills, leading a strong team effort by the Highlanders, who defeated visiting Saint Francis, PA, 3-0, in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division action Saturday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

Paludo paced a balanced NJIT attack with 12 kills and he also notched match-high totals in service aces (4) and digs (11) for the Highlanders, who swept the visitors, 31-29, 30-14, and 30-25.

The win avenged a 3-1 loss to Saint Francis on February 22 in Loretto, PA, and lifted the Highlanders to an 8-7 overall record and an EIVA Tait mark of 3-6. The Red Flash, who were 5-1 in the Tait after beating the Highlanders in February, drop to 5-4 in the Tait and 9-9 overall. Each team has three divisional regular season matches remaining.

NJIT, which had a strong .359 team attack percentage, got 11 kills from Eduardo Welter and 10 from Amobi Armstrong in support of Paludo's 12 kills. Armstrong had just two errors in his 14 attempts to finish with a .571 attack percentage.

Rodrigo Correa went the distance at setter, picking up 35 assists. In addition to Paludo's 11 digs, the Highlanders got nine digs from Welter. The team blocks were even at five apiece and the NJIT leaders were Welter and Greg Wagner, with two apiece. The Highlanders had a 5-0 advantage in services aces, including Paludo's four.

Saint Francis got a match-high 14 kills from Jordan Varee, but he was the only Red Flash player with a double-figure kills total. Other leaders for Saint Francis were: Shane Conley (31 assists and 7 digs); Nick Rivett (7 digs); and, four visitors with two block assists each.

NJIT opened the match quickly with a 12-6 lead and the Highlanders led by as many as seven points later in the match before bogging down on the way to their 20th point, as a 19-12 lead shrunk to 19-15.

Saint Francis kept inching closer before a 3-0 spurt tied the game at 28-28, the first tie since 1-1. There was another tie at 29-29, before Paludo killed NJIT's 30th point and the visitors succumbed on a ball handling error.

The second game was close early on, before NJIT went on a rousing 14-0 run, pushing a 6-5 lead to 20-5. The first point in the spurt was a Red Flash service error that gave the serve back to NJIT and Paludo held it for 13 straight points including three of his four total aces.

Also included was the defensive play of the match, turned in by libero Chris Siddayao, somehow got enough control as he was headed out of bounds on what would be NJIT's third touch and sent a blind over-the-shoulder ball across the net, keeping the rally alive before the Highlanders finished it with a kill four exchanges later.

The visitors took an early 6-4 lead in game three and the Red Flash still led, 7-6, when NJIT's Welter delivered three straight kills to put his team ahead for good. NJIT later led by as many as eight, 24-16, before Saint Francis trimmed the deficit to three points at 27-24 and then 28-25. But it was too late, as NJIT kept its focus and closed out the match with kills by Welter and Paludo.

The Highlanders will be back in action in another home match on Tuesday, hosting NYU in a 7 pm match in the Fleisher Athletic Center.