NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark junior setter
Jeff Zornig piled up 44 assists as the Scarlet Raiders continued their torrid hitting in a 3-0 sweep of NJIT in an EIVA Hay match in the Fleischer Center. Set scores were 30-26, 30-24, 30-26.
Rutgers-Newark 3, NJIT 0
The Raiders (4-9, EIVA Hay 4-0) downed NJIT for the second time in eight days to run their victory streak to three matches and take a half game lead in the five-team division. The Highlanders (1-10, EIVA Hay 1-3) lost to Rutgers-Newark for the second consecutive match.
Rutgers-Newark hit.378 (49 kills, 15 errors, 90 attacks) and controlled the blocking battle, 10.0 to 3.0, to complete a sweep of the regular-season series with NJIT.
Senior middle blocker
Jon Keller hit a sizzling .667 with nine kills and just one error in a dozen swings while adding a solo block and seven assisted blocks for 13.5 points. Sophomore outside hitter
Eduardo Hernandez also had 13.5 points on 10 kills, an ace and five assisted blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter
Marcin Midura hammered down a team-high 12 kills on .526 hitting (12-2-19) while junior right side
Dane Mulligan collected 11 kills, an ace, a solo block and a match-high 11 digs in the 75-minute contest.
Freshman middle hitter
Brett Pickens came off the bench to pound down five kills on six swings without an error while rookie libero
Tomas Goldsmith notched six digs for the Raiders.
Freshman outside hitter Christian Puszies posted a match-high 13 kills and delivered two of NJIT’s four aces while freshman Doug Battersby and Kevin Van Oss tallied eight kills apiece. Sophomore setter Adam Gustafson totaled 32 assists.
Midura posted five kills as Zornig spread the attack for the Scarlet Raiders to hit .323 in their opening set win. Mulligan notched four kills and five digs while Keller chipped in three kills on just five swings and added a solo block.
Midura and Mulligan had four kills apiece in the second frame and the Raiders pulled away from a 19-19 tie to take complete control of the contest. A Mulligan kill snapped the tie, and Zornig and Keller combined for a block to put Rutgers-Newark ahead for good. The Highlanders trimmed the lead to one three times before the Raiders closed the set with a 6-2 run.
Keller had five kills on six attacks without an error and got in on all three of the Raiders’ blocks in the final set as Rutgers-Newark hit .423 (15-4-26) to end the evening. There were 16 ties and three lead changes in the frame. Keller had two kills and got in on a block with Zornig as the Raiders rallied from a 25-24 deficit to take the match. A Hernandez ace sealed the deal.
Rutgers-Newark visits George Mason on Friday for a 7 p.m. match before returning to The Golden Dome on Tuesday to resume EIVA Hay play in their second contest of the season against NYU.