Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Rutgers-Newark defeated NJIT, 3-0 (30-23, 31-29, and 30-27), Monday night in a cross-divisional Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match in Rutgers' Golden Dome Athletic Center.
The win was the second this season for Rutgers-Newark against NJIT. The Scarlet Raiders defeated the Highlanders, 3-0, on February 25 at NJIT. This season marks the first time in recent years that the two University Heights neighbors have played twice in the same season. Last season, they met once, with NJIT winning.
Rutgers-Newark, which leads the EIVA Hay Division, got 16 kills from Kenny Reinecker and 13 kills from Nate Stott in defeating NJIT of the EIVA Tait Division Monday night. Setter Liran Shapiro had a match-best 45 assists for the Scarlet Knights. Reinecker also served three aces.
On defense, Caden Mulligan picked up 17 digs for Rutgers-Newark and Jon Keller had five block assists.
NJIT's attack leader was senior Amobi Armstrong, who had 14 kills along with four errors in 33 swings for a .303 percentage. Newark resident Glen DeMagalhaes added nine kills for the Highlanders.
Freshman setter Adam Gustafson had 33 assists for NJIT and also had three kills without an error in six attempts.
Armstrong, a second-team all-East honoree in 2008, also led the Highlanders in digs, with 12. Sophomore Steve Sylvester led NJIT at the net, producing two block solos and a block assist.
The competition will only get tougher for NJIT, which will take its Spring Break trip to the Pacific coast and then to Hawaii. The first opponent is Hope International, ranked fourth in the national NAIA poll. NJIT will take on Hope International on Friday.
After that, NJIT will visit Southern California, tied for fifth in the national NCAA Division I-II poll (March 14), followed by Cal State Northridge, the nation's top squad (March 17), and then two matches at Hawai'i, ranked 12th (March 20 and 21).
