Post Game Interview

Highlights vs. Penn State

NEWARK, NJ—The Highlanders were led by three players who reached double-digit kills Friday paced by senior Jabarry Goodridge's 17, but it wasn't enough to upset No. 14 Penn State, as the Nittany Lions held on to a 3-2 victory in men's volleyball EIVA Conference action at the Fleisher Athletic Center.

The Nittany Lions won its fourth straight match of the season, improving to 7-4 on the season and 2-0 in the conference while the Highlanders drop below .500, 4-5 and 0-1 in EIVA play.

NJIT and Penn State split the first two sets, hitting the break tied at 1-1 following a 25-19 opening set win by the Highlanders and a close 25-21 second set win by Penn State.

Penn State took a 2-1 lead into the fourth set with a 25-22 victory in the third frame but the Highlanders forced a fifth and deciding set in the fourth frame with a 25-21 win. 

The Nittany Lions took an early 8-3 lead in the fifth set and scored the final four points of the match, holding on to a 15-8 victory.

The Highlanders, which last took Penn State to five sets on March 28, 2015 and dropped the five-set thriller, was led by outside hitter Goodridge with 17 kills, followed closely by Raymond Kowalski, who finished with 15 kills and freshman middle Luke Allmond, who closed out the match with a .667 hitting percentage with 10 kills on 12 swings and just two errors.

Setters Ricardo Whitaker and Cameron Tait split time at the setting position, with Whitaker piling up 27 assists and Tait with 23 to go along with five digs.

Libero Shannon Heckman was the match leader with 11 digs followed by Brad Thele (9).  In front of the net, Allmond paced the Highlanders with six total blocks (2 solor, 4 assists) while Luke Robbe added four assists.
Goodridge led the Highlanders with three service aces and Thele followed behind with two.

Lee Smith led the Nittany Lion offense collecting a career-high 17 kills on 34 swings, finishing the night with a .324 hitting percentage. The redshirt-sophomore also tallied a match-best seven blocks (all assists).

Senior Chris Nugent and Calvin Mende contributed 14 kills apiece while Luke Braswell finished with 42 assists.

NJIT will return to action on Saturday when the Highlanders host Saint Francis U in EIVA Conference action at 7pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center.