May 5, 2008

IRVINE, CA - Penn State, which, like NJIT, competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division, won the 2008 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 win over Pepperdine Saturday night at the University of California, Irvine.

One of the consequences of Penn State's win is that NJIT is guaranteed at least two confrontations in the 2009 season against the defending national champion. One of the matches will be played in Newark and another at Penn State, with dates to be set this fall. There is a further possibility that the Highlanders and Nittany Lions could meet a third time in the EIVA Playoff Tournament.

Penn State, which captured its 10th straight EIVA title and the accompanying NCAA Championship berth on April 26, won its second national championship with a 3-1 semifinal win over Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association champion Ohio State and then the title win over Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament champ and number two seed Pepperdine by scores of 27-30, 33-31, 30-25 and 30-23.

NJIT, which competed in the EIVA Tait Division this season for the first time since 2002, played Penn State twice in 2008. The Nittany Lions won both matches, 3-0, but the Highlanders were competitive throughout. In Newark, the scores were 30-27, 30-23 and 30-25. And in University Park, PA, the scores were 30-20, 30-24 and 30-22.

After the match at Penn State, Nittany Lion star Max Holt praised NJIT's fans and its team, according to the Daily Collegian, Penn State's student newspaper. The Daily Collegian reported: "I'd just want to say thank you (to the NJIT fans) for getting pumped up," middle hitter Max Holt said.

"A lot of teams come in here for games and just let us roll over them. Their crowd obviously helped push their team, and we like the better competition."

The Highlanders came up just short of a third 2008 meeting with the Nittany Lions when NJIT took a 2-0 lead in the EIVA playoff semifinals at Penn State against George Mason only to have the Patriots, ranked 11th in the nation, rally back for a 3-2 win and a spot in the finals, where they lost to Penn State.

As it turned out, a regular season loss to George Mason was the only blemish this season for the Nittany Lions, who finished the season with a 30-1 record.

NJIT which retained its spot in the higher power-rated Tait for the 2009 season, will have home-and-home matches next season against Penn State, George Mason, Princeton, Saint Francis (PA), Juniata and newly-promoted Springfield, which finished first in the lower-rated Hay Division.

Springfield, which also won the national Molten Division III Invitational Championship, ended its 2008 season at NJIT on April 16, when the Highlanders opened the EIVA playoffs with a 30-19, 30-23, 30-15 win.

The Highlanders later defeated Princeton, 3-2, to earn a spot in the 2008 EIVA semifinals.