Conference News
Scarlet Raiders Take Third Straight With Win At NJIT, 3-0
Scarlet Raiders Take Third Straight With Win At NJIT, 3-0
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.
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.








