Box score
NEW YORK—Senior Amobi Armstrong notched a match-best 25 kills for NJIT, which won its second men's volleyball match in as many starts with a 3-1 victory at New York University Tuesday night.
The Highlanders, who played five freshmen among their 11 players against NYU, had some stops and starts along the way, but took the win, 30-25, 28-30, 30-22, and 30-28.
The match was the first of two this season between NJIT and NYU, which compete in different divisions of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. NJIT is part of the higher power-rated EIVA Tait Division, while NYU plays in the EIVA Hay Division.
Both teams advanced to the semifinal round of the 2008 EIVA championship playoffs last spring held at Penn State, which went on to become national champion.
Armstrong accounted for 27.5 points Tuesday night, notching the 25 kills with just five errors in 42 swings for an impressive .476 hitting percentage. Junior Charles Bell, whose brief absence due to an apparent ankle sprain opened the door for NYU to win the second set, added 13 kills for the Highlanders, while freshman Raphael Mattos finished with 11 kills. Freshman middle Nick Jensen had eight kills with only one error in 13 tries for a .538 attack percentage.
Senior Rodrigo Correa and freshman Adam Gustafson shared the setting duties for NJIT, with Correa piling up 38 assists and Gustafson coming up with 22. Armstrong and Mattos each served two aces.
On defense, Armstrong's nine digs paced NJIT, while Mattos and Robert Thomas made three blocks apiece.
NYU, which also has a young squad, was led by its veterans. The Violets got 20 kills from senior Devin Zolnowski and 11 kills from junior Mike Ferragonio. Senior Ilan Goldstein set a match-high 51 assists.
Zolnowski finished with 13 digs and freshman libero Jay Hayes came away with 12 digs. All of NYU's 10 team blocks were assisted and the individual leaders were freshman Luke Hamlet (7 block assists) and Zolnowski (6).
NJIT pulled away late for a 30-25 win in the first set and appeared on its way to a win in the second set when it built a 23-15 lead. However, Bell had turned his ankle and NYU was able to take away the momentum from NJIT, coming from behind for a 30-28 win to even the match at two sets apiece.
However, the Highlanders answered with a decisive 30-22 win in the third set and then captured the match with a tightly-contested 30-28 win in the fourth set.
NJIT, which won its 2009 opener, 3-1, over East Stroudsburg on January 23, will next play in the Golden Dome Classic down Warren Street at Rutgers-Newark this weekend.
The Highlanders will take on Mount Olive on Friday at 4:30 pm and then face a rematch with East Stroudsburg on Saturday at 4:30 pm. East Stroudsburg is stepping into the tournament field for the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, which recently dropped out.
NJIT and NYU will meet again near the end of the season, when the Violets visit Newark for 7 pm match on April 14.
