Box Score
NEWARK, NJ – NJIT had three players reach double-figure kill totals en route to a 3-1 victory over East Stroudsburg in the second round of the Golden Dome Classic hosted by Rutgers-Newark Saturday evening.
NJIT took the first, second and fourth sets, losing only the third. The scores were: 30-23, 31-29, 22-30 and 30-24.
The win for the Highlanders, now 3-1, pick up its second victory over Warriors this season. Both teams met in Newark on January 23 in the season opener. East Stroudsburg falls to 1-2.
Junior Charles Bell led the Highlanders with a team-high 15 kills. Freshman Nick Jensen appearing in his third match, had a high hitting percentage of .400. Jensen set a personal-best with 12 kills and had three block assists. Senior Amobi Armstrong, who is coming off a 20-kill performance from the night before, added 10 kills.
Freshman libero Glen DeMagalhaes produced a team-high 11 digs for NJIT. Armstrong and Bell followed behind with eight and seven digs respectively. Senior setter Rodrigo Correa piled up 31 assists.
NJIT's Raphael Mattos was a force at the net, as he got a team-best five blocks (five assists).
East Stroudsburg's Jon Daley led the match with 18 kills and Chris Holden added 11 kills. Warrior's setter Levi Kauffman handed out a match-high 45 assists.
The Warriors, who had an 8-6 team advantage in services aces, were paced by two aces from Michael Semeraro and Eli Porr. RJ Roth combined for a match-high 14 digs.
Dante McCoy had six block assists leading his defense at the net.
The Highlanders gained the upper hand with a 30-23 win in the first set, as Mattos picked up four kills and Armstrong added three.
NJIT down 15-13, ran off six straight points, grabbing a 19-15 lead on a East Stroudsburg attacking error. The Warriors would come within six points of the Highlanders, 27-21, but NJIT claimed the set with an East Stroudsburg attack error.
The Highlanders dominated the second set early jumping out to a 6-0 lead. East Stroudsburg rallied getting back on a kill by Holden making the score 13-10. Both teams went back and forth until the score was 29-24, in favor of the Highlanders. With match-point, the Warriors posted five consecutive points, knotting the match at 29. Bell delivered a kill for NJIT and an East Stroudsburg attack error made the score 31-29.
East Stroudsburg took the third set 30-22, led by Porr with four kills as Kauffman piled up 10 assists.
NJIT trailed by as many as three points, 13-16, early in the closing set, but the Highlanders went ahead to stay at 21-20 on an attack error by the Warriors. East Stroudsburg never got closer than three the rest of the way and the Highlanders cruised home with the 30-24 win in the fourth to claim the match.
All-Golden Dome Classic Team
Nate Stott, Rutgers-Newark
Liran Shapiro, Rutgers-Newark
Christiaan Rombaut, Mt. Olive
Jose Lanier, Mt. Olive
Charles Bell, NJIT
Jon Daley, East Stroudsburg
Golden Dome Classic MVP
Kenny Rienecker, Rutgers-Newark
The Highlanders will travel to the Pennsylvania area on Friday, February 6th and take on Saint Francis (PA) at 7pm. On Saturday, NJIT will visit Juniata for a 7pm match.
