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 Junior Greg Wagner -- 7 for 7 on the night |
April 11, 2007
EAST STROUDSBURG, PA - East Stroudsburg defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology, 3-0, Wednesday night, in what amounted to a tuneup men's volleyball match in anticipation of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association playoffs, which begin next week.
East Stroudsburg, which plays in the EIVA Tait Division, gained a split of the two-match season series vs. NJIT, taking Wednesday's match 30-27, 30-25 and 30-20. NJIT, the newly-minted 2007 EIVA Hay Division champion, had beaten the Warriors, 3-2, back on March 6 in Newark.
NJIT is 17-9 on the season, while East Stroudsburg improves to 10-11.
Perhaps the most noteworthy individual performance came from NJIT middle hitter Greg Wagner, who was perfect on the attack for a second straight match. He had seven kills in seven swings against East Stroudsburg, following a 9-for-9 effort two days earlier in the Highlanders' Hay Division-clinching win at New Haven, giving him 16 kills in 16 attacks over his last two matches.
Looking at the big picture, both squads have qualified for the eight-team EIVA playoffs, which open April 17 to 19, with exact dates and pairings still to be announced.
NJIT coach Ryan McNeil mixed and matched Wednesday, using all 13 players on his roster against East Stroudsburg. Only three Highlanders appeared in all three games and regular starters Eduardo Welter, Rodrigo Correa, Leonardo Paludo and Wagner were all limited to action in one game apiece. Similarly, ESU coach Dustin Wood deployed 12 of the 13 players on his roster.
NJIT's kills leader was freshman Charles Bell, who notched 8 kills. Senior Brian Gadaleta had five kills in eight attempts without an error for a .625 attack percentage.
Captain Mike Nonnenmann played two games at setter and had a team-leading 24 assists for the Highlanders. Freshman Daniel Paslawsky paced the NJIT defense with six digs.
East Stroudsburg got a match-high 10 kills from Keith Eckenrode, while Adam Holdredge had 38 assists and RJ Roth picked up 16 digs. Eckenrode's four blocks were also match high.
NJIT will close the regular season this weekend in North Carolina at the Lees-McRae tournament, which also includes Mount Olive. The Highlanders will open the tournament on Friday at 7 pm against the hosts and continue play on Saturday morning.
