New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)

Season Outlook

NJIT returns to the EIVA Tait Division for the first time since the 2001 season after two seasons near and, finally, at the top of the Hay Division.

In 2006, the Highlanders finished second in the Hay and qualified for the EIVA postseason for the first time since 2000. Last season, NJIT finished first in the Hay with a 9-1 division mark, which returned the squad to the EIVA playoffs.

There's no question playing in the Tait will be a big challenge, but NJIT is as well equipped to meet the challenge as it has been in many years.

Fourth-year head coach Ryan McNeil welcomes back a veteran squad, including all starters among 11 letterwinners, from last season's team that finished 19-10 overall.

The team has three senior starters (plus a senior libero), led by 2007 all-EIVA 2nd team opposite Leonardo Paludo (468 points, 4.3 k/g, 2.16 d/g).

Paludo, one of three Brazilians on the team, is joined by classmate and fellow Brazilian Eduardo Welter, who was a nationally-ranked hitter in 2005 and 2006 before spending most of last season as a libero, due to a troublesome back. He moved back to hitter late in the season and is penciled in to play there again in 2008.

The third Brazilian is junior setter Rodrigo Correa (11.55 a/g).

Junior middle Amobi Armstrong, an exceptional athlete, accounted for 370.5 points a year go and senior middle Greg Wagner had an impressive .449 hitting percentage. Sophomore Charles Bell, another outstanding pure athlete, showed improvement as his freshman year progressed and appears ready to take a step up along with the higher level of regular competition.

Seniors Mike Nonnenmann (co-captain, setter) and Chris Siddayao (libero) are valuable contributors, as well.

There's no doubt that every Tait Division foe is at least as good as and most are better than the teams NJIT faced in the Hay Division. However, coach McNeil had his eyes ahead to the time when his team would move up and purposely scheduled challenging non-divisional matches. Last season, the Highlanders had four regular season matches against Tait teams and went 2-2 (defeated Rutgers-Newark and George Mason; lost to Juniata and Princeton).

In addition, the Highlanders faced nationally-ranked Pacific and Cal State Northridge in California and Lewis and Loyola-Chicago in Illinois in 2007. The previous year, NJIT took on Lewis, Loyola and Southern California as three of its first six 2006 foes.