Box Score
PRINCETON, NJ—Princeton pushed its win streak to five matches with a 3-0 victory over visiting NJIT in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association men's volleyball action at Dillon Gym Tuesday.
Princeton (6-6, 5-1 EIVA) won in straight sets Tuesday taking the marathon first set, 32-30, followed by a 25-20 and 25-21 victory in the second and third frames, respectively, to close out the match.
The Tigers have rebounded from a slow start to win out of their seven matches, including a 3-2 thriller over 15-time defending EIVA champ Penn State on February 28.
Sphomore outside hitter Devin Stearns led Princeton with a match-high 15 kills while hitting .429 for the match, followed by junior Cody Kessel's 11 kills in the win. Freshman setter Chris Kennedy piled up a match-high 37 assists and added eight digs while junior Tony Ensbury led the defense with 11 digs.
NJIT (5-7, 0-6 in EIVA) was led by freshman
Jabarry Goodridge, the only double-figure kill attacker on the team with 12.
TJ Jurko and
Chris Kaepernick added nine and eight kills, respectively, for the visitors. Setter
Zak Robben combined for 30 assists, while Kaepernick led the Highlanders defensively with 10 digs.
In the first frame which needed 12 extra points to settle on a winner, saw 14 ties and nine lead changes the last at 30-30 on a kill by Stearns. Princeton's Kennedy scored the final two points of the set with back-to-back service aces, clinching the first frame, 32-30.
The second frame remained close until late in the set when the Tigers took a three-point advantage, 20-17, on a kill by Stearns. The Highlanders notched the next point on a kill by Jurko out of a timeout, but the Tigers would score the next three points for a 23-18 advantage before closing out the frame on a kill from Jeff Stapleton, 25-20.
In the final set, Princeton jumped out to a 10-6 lead, but the visitors rallied back to tie the score at 12 on the strength of three consecutive points. Through the mid-teens the score went back and forth with the Tigers pulling ahead, 19-17, before finishing the set and match on a 3-1 run with a 25-21 victory.
NJIT will return to action on Thursday, March 6 when the Highlanders host neighborhood rival Rutgers-Newark in an EIVA contest at 7 pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
