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NEWARK, NJ—Penn State, the top men's volleyball team in the East and ranked 7^th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll, came to NJIT and swept the Highlanders 30-28, 25-21 and 25-21 in NJIT's home finale Saturday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

The Nittany Lions, who have already captured the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season title, won their 13 straight match Saturday, improving to 17-9 overall and 11-0 in the EIVA.  NJIT, coming off a 3-1 win on Friday night against Saint Francis U, drops to 11-12 on the season overall and 3-8 on EIVA play with one game remaining on the schedule at George Mason on April 25.

Penn State's kill leaders was senior outside hitter Aaron Russell with a match-best 17, followed by redshirt senior Nick Goodell (13) and sophomore outside hitter Chris Nugent (10).

Setter Taylor Hammond recorded a match-high 41 assists, while libero Connor Curry 11 digs shared match-best honors with NJIT libero Oren Zyndorf

Jabarry Goodridge led the NJIT offense with a team-best 13 kills, followed by redshirt junior TJ Jurko (9). Redshirt sophomore Luke Robbe hit .444 for the second straight match, with five kills on nine swings with just one error.

Senior setter Zak Robben notched 30 assists for the Highlanders, while Zyndorf's 11 digs were followed by nine digs from Jurko.

The Highlanders held a 7-3 service ace advantage, topped by two each from Jurko and Daniel Leung.  NJIT also led the team block advantage 7-to-3 paced by Ryan Thomas's four block assists and Jurko's three (all assists).  Goodridge recorded three total blocks (two assists, one solo).

In the first set, which went extra points, the frame saw 20 ties and eight lead changes.  The final tie of the set came at 28 after block assists by Goodridge and Thomas of NJIT.  Penn State recorded the final two points of the set to take a 30-28 victory.  Jurko recorded five kills followed by four from Goodridge.

The Highlanders led early in the second frame, 8-6 after a Penn State service error, but the Nittany Lions rallied off six straight points pulling ahead 12-8.  The Nittany Lions extended its lead to five, 22-16, after a kill by Matt Callaway, and Penn State went on to win 25-21.

In the final set, Penn State hit an impressive .438 notching 20 kills on 32 swings with six errors paced by Goodell and Nugent with six kills for a 25-21 win.

NJIT will conclude the 2015 regular season on Saturday at George Mason.  In the first meeting between the two teams, George Mason defeated NJIT, 3-1 in Newark.