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NEWARK, NJ--No.9 Penn State swept No. 11 NJIT, 3-0, Friday afternoon in EIVA Conference men's volleyball action inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center.

The Nittany Lions (13-2, 10-1 EIVA) won in straight sets, 33-31, 25-23 and 25-21, registering its seventh straight win of the season.  The Highlanders, whose win streak has halted at nine matches, moves to 11-4 overall, 11-2 in the conference.

Penn State was led by Michael Valenzi with a team-best 15 kills followed by Brett Wildman with 13.  Setter Cole Bogner piled up a match-best 37 assists and three digs as Cal Fisher led the match with 19 digs.  

In front of the net, Sam Marsh paced the match with five total blocks (one solo, four assists) as the Nittany Lions edged the Highlanders in total team blocks 8.0-to-7.5.

NJIT's Julian Meissner shared match-best honors with Valenzi, combining for 15 kills on 32 attempts with just two errors for a .406 hitting percentage.  Senior Alvaro Gimeno added nine kills and Martin de Chavarria registered a .545 hitting percentage, posting seven kills, one error on 11 swings.

Senior Zachary Hresko and Griffin Fieseler split time at the setting position, recording 17 and 11 assists respectively for the Highlanders.  Libero Joe Kennedy notched 10 digs followed by Gimeno with eight.

De Chavarria and Luca Berger each recorded three total blocks.

A great battle between two top ranked teams in the first frame, saw Penn State take the first set in extra points.  After 21 ties, six lead changes and a 31-all score, resulting in a service error by Penn State, the Nittany Lions scored back-to-back kills to secure the first set, 33-31.  Penn State's Michael Valenzi led the frame with seven kills followed by NJIT's Alvaro Gimeno with five.

Penn State broke a 9-9 early tie and scored four consecutive points to push ahead, 12-9.  NJIT used a late 4-1 spurt, closing the Nittany Lion gap to one, 20-19, resulting in a timeout by Penn State.  The Nittany Lions scored two straight points to go up, 22-19, as Highlander head coach Danny Goncalves called for a timeout to regroup his team.  As a result of the timeout, NJIT scored the next two points to tie the set at 22-all.  Penn State closed out the frame on a 4-2 run to go ahead 2-0 with a 25-23 victory.  

In the third frame, NJIT finished with a .444 hitting percentage while Penn State combined for a .379 hitting percentage.  The set saw 11 ties and two lead changes, the final being late in the set, 19-19, on a kill by NJIT's Martin de Chavarria.  The Nittany Lions closed out the set on a 4-2 spurt to secure the 3-0 sweep with a 25-21 victory.

The two teams will conclude its two-match EIVA weekend series on Saturday at 4pm.

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