NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Lehigh defeated NJIT, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-14) Saturday afternoon in women's volleyball action at the Fleisher Athletic Center.

Lehigh, which improves to 14-9 overall on the season, was led by sophomore outside hitter Megan Lowe with a team-high 6 kills.  Junior right side hitter Stephanie Salter added 5 kills while Taylor Carroll and Whitney Krantz each noted 4 kills in the victory.

Junior setter Amy Matula recorded a double-double with a match-best 28 assists and added 10 digs.  Sophomore libero Mariah Brantley posted a match-high 21 digs to lead the Mountain Hawk defense followed by 10 digs apiece from Matula and Jade Van Streepen.

The Mountain Hawks held an 8.5-to-5.5 team block advantage led by Matula with 5 total blocks (4 assists, 1 solo) and a 7-to-3 in the service ace category paced by Matula and Brantley with 2 apiece.

The Highlanders (6-17 overall) were led by Danica Vukotic and Fran Edmondson with 7 kills each followed by freshman Kat Janssen with 6. Sophomore setter Alyssa Armada notched a double-double for the Highlanders piling up 23 assists and 14 digs to go along with a team-high 4 total blocks (4 assists).

Libero Katie Goswick led NJIT with a team-high 15 digs followed by Armada's 14.  Freshman middle Tess Albyn added 3 block assists in front for NJIT.

In the first set, Lehigh opened up the frame on a 7-3 spurt resulting in an NJIT timeout.  The home team rallied back pulling within two of the Mountain Hawks, 6-8, on back-to-back kills by Valerie Carroll and Edmondson.  Lehigh scored the next five points increasing the Mountain Hawk lead to seven, 13-6.  NJIT came within four of the visitors, 10-14, but Lehigh answered with a 5-1 run and cruised to a 25-17 victory.  Lehigh's Salter and Morgan Lowe recorded 3 kills in the set while NJIT's Carroll combined for 4.

The second set, the closest of the three frames, saw 10 ties and 2 lead changes with the Highlanders holding a 13-to-10 kill advantage.  The set went back-and-forth with neither team leading by three, the final at 18-15, in favor of Lehigh after a block assist by Katie Jennison and Matula.

NJIT went on a 4-1 run, knotting the set at 19 on block assists by Albyn and Armada.  Lehigh responded scoring the next three points for a 22-19 advantage resulting in a Highlander timeout.  Out of the time out, NJIT got a kill from Danica Vukotic and block assist from Danica Vukotic and Albyn pulling the home team within one, 21-22. Lehigh finished off the frame on a 3-1 run for a 25-22 victory.  NJIT's Janssen and Edmondson recorded 3 kills apiece in the second frame.

In the final set, Lehigh opened up the frame on a 4-1 run and later increased its lead to 15-5 and never looked back, closing out the match with a 25-14 win.

NJIT will return to action on Tuesday when the Highlanders host Iona at 7pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.