Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ—Janet Snell had 20 kills—more than twice the total of any other player for either team—leading NJIT to a 3-0 win (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) over visiting Lafayette in non-conference women's volleyball Tuesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Snell, a junior outside hitter, also had 12 digs on defense for the Highlanders, who are 8-15 with Tuesday night's win. The next-highest kills total after her 20, was eight by teammate Renata Pandolfo, while Cathy Leung added seven kills. Julia Colombo, hitting from the middle, finished with six kills and no errors in 18 swings.
 
NJIT's junior setter Anna Mercado had a match-best 32 assists, while the serving leaders were Leung and Colombo, with two aces apiece.
 
On defense, the Highlanders had four players with double-figure digs totals on the floor, led by senior Audrey Snell's 19. Leung finished with 18 digs, followed by Mercado (14) and Janet Snell's 12.
 
Blocking wasn't much of a factor in the match, but NJIT had four total team blocks to one for the visitors. Gretchen VonKoenig led the Highlanders with three block assists, while Leung and Pandolfo each had two block assists.
 
Lafayette (8-14) got kills from seven different players, but the individual leaders were Kaitlynn Zoller and Camissa Beghou, each of whom had six. Molly Belcher collected a team-leading 20 assists for the Leopards.
 
Danielle Towslee served four aces as Lafayette won that category, 7-6.
 
Sophomore libero Christy Mebust notched a match-best 22 digs, followed by Belcher, with 16, and Zoller, who had 12. The only block of the night for the Leopards was shared by Zoller and Katy Rooney.
 
NJIT, which did not trail at any point in the opening two sets, actually won more comfortably in the first set than in the second, despite ending the first at 25-22 and the second at 25-20.
 
The first set had more multiple-point runs, but NJIT never allowed the visitors to tie. The Highlanders went up 7-2, only to see Lafayette close to 7-6 and 8-7, before a 7-0 NJIT run made it 15-7. The Highlanders later led 19-11 and 20-12 and still held a 22-16 advantage before the Leopards trimmed the lead to 22-21 with a 5-0 spurt. NJIT then finished off the set, 3-1, keyed by kills for Janet Snell and Colombo.
 
The Highlanders opened the second set at 5-1, but they never got their lead above four points until 19-14. They took final control after 21-18 on back-to-back points from a Lafayette error and a block for Leung and VonKoenig. The Leopards closed back to 20-23, but Leung finished the set with a pair of kills for the Highlanders.
 
The early part of the third set was Lafayette's best segment of the night, as the Leopards opened with three straight service points from Belcher, including an ace. NJIT came back for 3-3 and 4-4 ties, but the Leopards ran off three more points for a 7-4 lead.
 
There were later ties at 8-8 and 9-9, before the NJIT went ahead to stay on back to back Leopard errors that made it 11-9 for the Highlanders. Lafayette got back within a point three more times, the last a 18-19, but NJIT clinched the set and match with the last six points of the match, capped by a block for Pandolfo and Colombo.
 
Janet Snell was most dominant in the last two sets. In the second, she had eight kills, one less than the collective nine for Lafayette and in the third set, her seven kills were also one shy of the Leopards' team total of eight.  
 
Next up for the Highlanders is their final non-conference competition of the season, a 7 pm game at Saint Peter's in Jersey City, NJ, Thursday night.