PHOENIX, AZ—No. 6 UC Irvine registered a .388 hitting percentage en route to a straight set victory over NJIT, 3-0, Friday evening at Antelope Arena on the campus of Grand Canyon.

UCI picks up its third straight victory and moves to 5-1 on the young season while the Highlanders fall to 0-8 on the season.

The Anteaters won in straight sets 25-13, 25-17 and 25-21.

UCI's Scott Stadick and NJIT's Alvaro Gimeno shared match-high honors in kills (9).  The Anteaters Stadick combined for a .476 hitting percentage and combined for seven total blocks.

JB Cam hit .600 for the match, posting six kills on 10 attempts with no errors in the win.  Logan Zotovitch and Dante Chakravorti split time at the setting position, notching 18 and seven assists respectively.

Defensively, libero David Park posted a match-best seven digs.

In addition to Gimeno's nine kills for the Highlanders, Raymond Kowalski recorded eight kills and five digs for NJIT.

NJIT setter Ricardo Whitaker combined for a match-high 26 assists and six digs.

NJIT took an early 4-2 lead in the first set, but UC Irvine rallied on a 14-4 spurt to push ahead, 16-7, after back-to-back kills by the Anteaters.  NJIT pulled within eight, 20-12, on an error by UC Irvine as the Anteaters closed out the frame on a 5-1 run for a 25-13 victory.  UC Irvine hit .476 on 11 kills, 21 attempts with just one error.

In the second set, UC Irvine jumped ahead, 15-9, and cruised to a 25-17 victory behind a .333 hitting percentage.

The third set saw UC Irvine take a 9-4 and later extended its lead to six, 16-10.  NJIT used a 5-1 run, pulling within two, 17-15, after consecutive aces by Gimeno.  The Highlanders closed the gap to one, 21-20, on a kill by Piotr Namiotko but UC Irvine closed out the match on a 4-1 spurt for a 25-21 victory.

NJIT will play its next two matches at home in the Wellness and Events Center, first hosting Lindenwood on January 25 at 7pm.