Box Score 

NEWARK, NJ – New Jersey Institute of Technology men's volleyball team came up short Tuesday night as it dropped a 3-0 (30-26, 34-32, 30-28) decision to Princeton in a EIVA conference match-up at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

 

NJIT's junior Charles Bell produced a match-high 20 kills on 34 attempts with just three errors for a .500 hitting percentage for the match.  Bell also added four digs and two block assists on the defensive end.  Amobi Armstrong posted 10 kills and a match-high 13 digs.  Freshman Adam Gustafson collected 26 assists, playing in just two frames while senior Rodrigo Correa added 10 in the third set.

 

The Tigers' Vincent Tuminelli led his team with 14 kills while teammates Carl Hamming and Mike Vincent recorded 13 and 10 kills apiece. Ka'ohu Berg-Hee registered eight digs for the visitors.  Setter Brandon Denham piled up a match-high 41 assists.

 

Princeton hit .336 over the three frames and recorded 8.5 team blocks with Hamming recording a match-high six blocks while Highlander Robert Thomas led the way with four (1 solo, three assists).

 

Sets two and three played out in a similar pattern, with the score being tied on several occasions respectively in those contests. In both instances, it was when the score was in the mid-20s that the Tigers seemed to have the extra push to take control and emerge with the win.

 

The Highlanders will host George Mason on Saturday, February 21 at 4pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.

 

Last time both teams met was on April 24, 2008 in the first semifinal match of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Playoff Tournament.  George Mason, ranked 11th in the national men's volleyball poll defeated the Highlanders, 3-2.

 

The Highlanders had four men with double figures in the kills' column, led by senior Leonardo Paludo with 20. All-East second team Armstrong finished with 14 kills and seniors Eduardo Welter and Greg Wagner, produced 12 kills apiece. Wagner finished with 12 kills and just one error in 23 swings for an impressive .478 hitting percentage.