BROOKLYN, NY—Denver swept NJIT, 3-0, on the second day of the 2016 Dazzler Hotels Blackbird Invitational Sunday morning hosted by LIU Brooklyn at the Steinberg Center.

Denver, defending Summit League regular season and tournament champions the last two seasons and preseason favorite in 2016, won in straight sets Sunday, 25-15, 25-11, 25-16.  The Pioneers improve to 6-4 on the season while the Highlanders drop below .500, with a 4-5 overall mark.

NJIT will conclude the 2016 Dazzler Hotels Blackbird Invitational against host LIU Brooklyn at 6pm.

Denver, which finished the match with a .476 team hitting percentage was led by Kayla Principato, who was named to the all-tournament team. Principato, a 6-foot-3 right side hitter, was the lone player to reach double-figure kills Sunday with 12, recorded a .455 hitting percentage while Ruth Okoye, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, added nine kills on 11 swings with no errors for a match-best .818 hitting percentage.  Both Principato and Okoye were named 'Players to Watch' in the Summit League.

The Pioneers used two setters – Monique Domme and Piyusha Boteju each notching 19 and 17 assists respectively.  Libero Cassidy Rooke led the match with 13 digs. 

As a team, Denver held a 10-to-2 team blocking advantage, paced by Principato with six total digs (1 solo, 5 assists) followed by Okoye (five assists) and Emma Willis (two solo and two assists).

NJIT's Weronika Wiezik led the Highlanders with eight kills while freshman setter Anna Rodrigues nearly missed a double-double, notching a match-high 21 assists and nine digs.

In addition to Rodrigues' team-best nine digs, sophomore libero Adriana Nieto followed with five digs.  Middle Mikalah Hughes posted two block assists in front of the net.

In the first set, Denver took an early 6-1 advantage and extended its lead to 16-8.  The Highlanders went on a short run, 4-1, closing the gap to 15-21 but Denver closed out the set on a 4-0 spurt, taking the first frame, 25-15.

Denver went ahead, 2-0, jumping out to another early lead in the second frame, 5-0 and pushed the lead to 15-6, resulting in an NJIT timeout.  The Highlanders scored a point after regrouping, on a kill by Wiezik but Denver used an 11-5 run, cruising to a 25-11 win.

The third frame, the closest of the three, saw seven ties, the final at 14 on a kill by Tess Albyn.  Denver used an 11-2 run to close out the match, 25-16, and sweep NJIT, 3-0.