Box score

SPRINGFIELD, MA—Springfield took the second leg of its two-match season series with NJIT, sweeping the Highlanders, 3-0 (30-24, 30-15, 30-21) Friday night in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division competition.

Springfield, ranked first in the latest Division III national poll, had defeated NJIT, 3-2, in an airtight match on February 10 in Newark. Friday's result leaves Springfield at 4-4, plus the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Highlanders, in the 12-match EIVA Tait schedule, while NJIT drops to 0-7.

AJ Nally had a match-best 12 kills to lead Springfield's attack. The Pride generated a .415 team attack percentage on 46 kills and 12 errors in 82 attempts. Eric Shoemaker had 34 assists, while Nally, Shoemaker and Mark Ribeiro each served two aces, leading Springfield to a 7-1 advantage in that category.

Dan Lischak was Springfield's digs leader, with eight, and the Pride had a 13.5-to-3 team blocking advantage, led by Andy Sipe (6 block assists) and Cal Palumbo (1 block solo and 4 block assists).

NJIT's leaders were: Charles Bell (10 kills); Adam Gustafson (19 assists; 1 ace); Glen DeMagalhaes (5 digs); and, Robert Thomas (1 block solo and 1 block assist).

The Highlanders, who will not return to Tait Division play until March 27, when they host Saint Francis, will begin trying to regroup almost immediately, visiting EIVA Hay Division  member Harvard on Saturday at 4 pm in Cambridge, MA.