Box Score
 
NEWARK, NJ—NJIT took its fourth straight men's volleyball match, sweeping visiting New Jersey City, 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-13) in non-conference action Tuesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
The Highlanders, who stand at 4-3 thanks to the four-match winning streak are 8-0 in the all-time series vs. the Gothic Knights, who last played the Highlanders in 1997, when both programs competed at the NCAA Division III level (NJIT, now in Division I, was Eastern Division III champion in 1997). NJCU, which remains in Division III, is 2-3 in 2012.
 
NJIT got six kills from freshman TJ Jurko and five kills apiece from senior Adam Gustafson and from junior Kevin Van Oss. Gustafson and Van Oss each had six attempts without an error for identical .833 hitting percentages. Jurko had one error in 11 swings, as NJIT's team hitting percentage was .508 (36 kills, 5 errors, 61 attempts). The three kills leaders played two sets apiece, as coach Ryan McNeil employed seven subs along with his six starters.
 
Freshman Zak Robben, who played two frames at setter, led NJIT with 16 assists, while junior Matthew Lui, who also appeared in two sets, collected 14 assists.
 
NJIT had an 11-5 advantage in service aces, paced by four from junior Andrei Stoyanow and three for Van Oss.
 
On the defensive side, Stoyanow and freshman Oren Zyndorf led the Highlanders on the floor with four digs each. Blocking was not a big factor in the match, with NJIT holding a 4-3 team edge, headed by three individual blocks (1 solo, 2 assisted) for Lui.
 
New Jersey City's top hitter was freshman Arslani Besmir, who posted a match-best 11 kills. Besmir has posted the match-best total for kills in each of his first five college contests.
 
Junior setter Justin Beaumont finished with 15 assists for the Gothic Knights and he also collected a match-best six digs on defense, followed by Kenny Lisk's five digs. Beaumont's two blocks (1 solo, 1 assisted) were also tops for NJCU.
 
The Highlanders won the first set easily, opening a 8-3 lead and then finishing 11-3 after the visitors scored their seventh point. NJIT had 12 kills without an error in 18 attempts in the set. Van Oss also got all three of his aces in the opening stanza.
 
The second set was easily the most competitive of the night, with six ties, the last at 15-15 on a kill for NJCU's Nathan Joubert. NJIT then ran off four straight points—three on blocks, with Lui and Van Oss combining on the first two and Lui going it alone on the third for a 19-15 lead.
 
After a Lisk kill for the Gothic Knights made it 19-16, the Highlanders closed the set by winning six of the last eight points.
 
Visiting coach Kevin Rodgers used both of his timeouts for the third set in the opening 12 points, but it was to no avail, as NJIT opened 11-2 and later, 14-3. New Jersey City got as close as five points at 10-15, but the Highlanders responded with a 7-1 run and then coasted to a 25-13 victory in the third set to clinch the match.
 
The men's volleyball will host its annual alumni event on Saturday at 2 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center. Alumni interested in taking part should contact coach Ryan McNeil by e-mail at mcneil@njit.edu or by phone at 973-596-6498.
 
The next competition for the Highlanders comes the following weekend, when they venture to Western Pennsylvania, where they will visit Saint Francis in Loretto on Friday, February 10 at 7 pm and then perennial national power Penn State the next day at 7 pm.
 
Penn State is ranked fifth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association weekly national Division I-II poll. The matches at Saint Francis and Penn State will open up the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule for the Highlanders.