Danny Goncalves Named EIVA Conference Coach of the Year, Six Highlanders Earn All-Conference Honors

Six Highlanders were selected to the 2021 EIVA All-Conference team and  seventh-year head coach Danny Goncalves has been named 2021 Bob Sweeny Coach of the Year the league office announced on Tuesday.

NJIT will be the No. 2 seed in the 2021 EIVA Conference Tournament which will be hosted by Penn State at Rec Hall on April 22-24.  The top two seeds, No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 NJIT, earn byes into the semifinals. The semifinals and finals will be played April 22 and 24 at Penn State's Rec Hall. Start times will be announced later this week.

Danny Goncalves | Bob Sweeny Coach of the Year
The Highlanders finished the regular season with a 13-5 overall mark and second in the EIVA with a 13-3 record.  The 13 wins are the most wins for NJIT since the 2017.

NJIT made its first appearance in program history in the NVA/AVCA top-10 on March 29, 2021 at the No. 10.

Goncalves' squad broke into the National Volleyball Association (NVA)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's Coaches top-15 poll after splitting a weekend EIVA series with then-ranked No. 11 Penn State on February 14.  The win for the Highlanders marked the first time since 1998 NJIT defeated Penn State.

The 11-3 start  was the best since 2007, when the Highlanders went 10-4 and the nine consecutive victories is the most in a row since 2017.