NEWARK, NJ – Junior outside hitter Nate Stott hammered down a match-high 16 kills while tallying 19 points to lead Rutgers-Newark to a 3-0 EIVA win at NJIT. Set scores were 30-27, 30-24, 31-29. 

NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play

The Scarlet Raiders (5-5) posted their first win over an NCAA Division I opponent for the season while the Highlanders (3-7) suffered their first loss to Rutgers-Newark in two seasons. 

Stott hit a sizzling .520 (16 kills, 3 errors, 25 attempts), added two aces and posted two assisted blocks to pace a balanced Raider effort. Sophomore setter Liran Shapiro notched 42 assists and added four kills as Rutgers-Newark his .243 (49-24-103) as a team to NJIT's .073 (30-23-96). 

Senior right side Kenny Rienecker totaled 14.5 points with 13 kills and three assisted blocks while sophomore outside hitter Grant Metheny, who got his first starting assignment of the season, finished with 10 kills, six digs and two assisted blocks. Rienecker added a match-high 13 digs while senior libero Derek Wolfe posted eight digs. 

Junior middle blockers Jon Keller and Kenneth Stumbaugh got in on a combined nine blocks with each posting three kills. 

NJIT got nine kills and six digs from Charles Bell while Glen DeMagalhaes posted eight kills, six digs and two assisted blocks. Senior Amobi Armstrong was limited to six kills, two aces and six digs. 

In set one, Rienecker and Metheny had five kills apiece as the Raiders took control of the match, hitting .323 as a team. After falling into a 3-0 hole to start the match, Rutgers-Newark reeled off five straight points to take a 19-17 lead. After an NJIT service error, Stumbaugh and Metheny came up with a block before back-to-back kills by Rienecker and Metheny were chased by an ace by Stott. The Raiders never lost their lead, closing out the set on a kill by Rienecker. 

In the second frame, Stott hammered down five kills to offset five kills by Bell as Rutgers-Newark again climbed out of a 3-0 hole to open the set. There were 13 ties with the final one coming at 23-all before a Highlander service error and a Stott kill gave the Raider the lead for good. A Rienecker kill capped a 5-0 run by Rutgers-Newark to end the frame. 

Stott notched eight kills and Rienecker tallied six and six digs as the Raiders hung on to close out the match in the third set. After a service error gave NJIT set point at 29-27, Stumbaugh and Rienecker came up with consecutive kills to even the frame. Then, Rienecker and Stumbaugh blocked DeMagalhaes on back-to-back plays to end the evening. 

Rutgers-Newark visits Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. on Friday for a key EIVA Hay match before travelling to George Mason on Saturday for a non-conference EIVA tilt.