NEWARK, NJ—Senior Baaba Hughes put down a match-best 15 kills, leading NJIT to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Chicago State in Great West Conference women's volleyball action Saturday evening in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

NJIT, which moved to 2-3 in Great West play, won the sets by scores of 25-11, 25-8, and 25-23. Both GWC wins for the Highlanders are against Chicago State. The visiting Cougars are 0-4 in conference play.

Hughes, the only senior on the Highlanders squad, had just two errors in 33 attempts, posting an impressive .394 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Janet Snell had a strong match as well, with eight kills and two errors in 17 swings for a .353 hitting percentage to go with a match-best 13 digs on the defensive side. Her older sister, Audrey Snell, added 11 digs from the libero spot.

Janet Snell also had three service aces, sharing the match lead with teammate Julia Colombo as NJIT had a 7-1 advantage in that category.

NJIT, which employed two setters, got 24 assists from starter Anna Mercado and 10 off the bench from freshman Carly Ziemer.

Blocking was not much of a factor for either team, as NJIT got a block solo apiece from Colombo and Fernanda Lima, and Chicago State had four total team blocks.

The visiting Cougars were led on the attack by Valeria Desiderio's 11 kills, while Anna Morgan led CSU with 17 assists. Desiderio had her team's only ace and Mysta Townsell finished with a team-best 10 digs. The blocking leader for Chicago State was Shandella Darring, who had three block assists.

Led by seven kills from Hughes, NJIT won the first set easily, 25-11. The Highlanders had a .412 team attack percentage in the set, with 15 kills and one error in 34 tries.

The second set had three ties on the way to 3-3, but NJIT, which led just 6-5 a bit later, pulled away for 19 of the last 22 points in the set and a 25-8 win.

Obviously the most competitive of the three sets at 25-23, the third frame began well for the Highlanders at 3-1. Unlike the previous set, however, they had difficulty shaking the Cougars.

NJIT led, 10-8, but spurted to 15-9 and still led, 18-13. But the visitors, still seeking their first win of the season after 19 matches, did not give up and cut the deficit to 17-19.

The Highlanders pushed their advantage back to five points, the latest at 23-18. But the race to the finish was suspenseful, as Chicago State closed again to 23-24 before NJIT got match point on a bad attempted set by the Cougars.

NJIT, now 3-11 overall, will visit Lafayette in Easton, PA, on Tuesday at 7 pm.