Box score

NEWARK, NJ—Lees-McRae came to town Friday night and swept NJIT, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-21) in non-conference men's volleyball in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

The visiting Bobcats from Banner Elk, NC, raised their record to 8-6 with the convincing victory, while NJIT is 3-8.

The Highlanders had no answer for burly senior hitter Chad Mercado of Lees-McCrae, who smoked 20 kills and had just two errors in 31 swings for a .581 hitting percentage. Mercado, who is built like a football linebacker at 6-foot-5 and 235 muscular pounds, led his team to an impressive .471 hitting percentage (49 kills, 9 errors, 85 attempts) as a group.

Freshman Eduardo Gonzales, who played the last two sets, added 10 kills for Bobcats, none of whom made more than two hitting errors in the match.

Setter Randy Ramirez had 40 assists, while John Lucas had a match-best 2 service aces.

On defense, Lees-McRae picked up a match-leading 13 digs from Gonzales, while Ramirez led the blocking with 5 block assists. The Bobcats had a 6-2 lead in team blocks.

Kevin Van Oss led the NJIT attack with 10 kills (2 errors, 18 attempts, .444 hitting percentage) and Adam Gustafson notched 24 assists. The Highlanders did not have a service ace.

Gustafson led the Highlander defense on the floor with 10 digs, while four different NJIT players recorded one block assist apiece.

Lees-McRae dominated the first set, leading wire-to-wire.

The teams played the second set close to the vest with 10 ties and the Highlanders actually led near the midpoint, 12-9. But the Bobcats used an 8-1 spurt to claim a 17-13 lead they never relinquished on the way to a 25-18 win in the set.

The third set was NJIT's strongest and the Highlanders led, 20-17, after a kill for freshman Dhruv Lad. But Lees-McRae closed the set and match with an 8-1 run to clinch the sweep.

Next up for the Highlanders is a visit to Springfield in Massachusetts for a Thursday non-divisional Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match starting at 7 pm.