NEWARK, NJ – Senior right side Kenny Rienecker totaled 20 points with match highs of 16 kills and three aces as Rutgers-Newark swept past NJIT, 3-0, in a non-conference EIVA match in The Golden Dome. 

NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play

The 30-23, 31-29, 30-27 win completed a season sweep of the two match series between the neighboring universities for the Scarlet Raiders (7-7). 

Rienecker hit .355 (16-5-31) to pace the Raiders to a .282 (52-19-117) hitting effort fueled by sophomore setter Liran Shapiro who notched 45 assists and eight digs. 

Junior outside hitter Nate Stott tallied 13 kills and added two aces, four digs and three assisted blocks while junior middle hitter Jon Keller chipped in nine kills got in on a match-high five blocks. Junior middle hitter Kenneth Stumbaugh hit .455 with six kills and just one error in 11 swings and added two assisted blocks. 

Freshman libero Caden Mulligan posted 17 digs while handling 32 services with just one error while senior outside hitter Derek Wolfe contributed seven digs, an ace, two kills and two assisted blocks. 

Senior right side Amobi Armstrong paced the Highlanders (3-11) with 14 kills on .303 hitting and added a team-high 12 digs. Freshman outside hitter Glen De Magalhaes finished with nine kills, an ace and seven digs for NJIT. Freshman setter Adam Gustafson dealt out 33 assists and added five digs and three kills while junior outside hitter Charles Bell added six kills, two assisted blocks and three kills. 

In set one, Rienecker had nine kills as Rutgers-Newark rallied from an early 7-2 deficit by hitting .415 as a team. 

An Armstrong kill gave the Highlanders a 22-18 lead in the second frame as NJIT seemed in control of the set. But, the Raiders ran off seven straight points with Keller and freshman right side Marcin Midura getting two kills apiece during the run to take a 25-22 run. But, two service errors and a pair of attack errors by Rutgers-Newark allowed NJIT to pull even at 26-26. A kill by freshman outside hitter Raphael Mattos gave the Highlanders set point at 29-28 before back-to-back kills by Midura and Keller set up the set clinching block by Keller and freshman outside hitter Austin Pappas. Keller had six kills in the frame while Mattos notches five for NJIT. 

Rienecker, who missed the second half of the second set after running into the Raider bench while chasing a ball, came back in the third set with six kills and Stott added five as Rutgers-Newark closed out the evening in three frames. Armstrong, who had six kills in the set, gave the Highlanders an 18-16 lead with a putaway, but Rutgers-Newark answered with an 8-2 to take control at 24-20. 

Rutgers-Newark travels to NYU on Wednesday night a 7 o'clock for a key EIVA Hay match.