Men's Volleyball Sweeps Saint Francis U for Third Straight Win

NJIT swept visiting Saint Francis U, 3-0, in men's volleyball non-conference action inside the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center Saturday evening.

NJIT won in straight sets – 25-21, 25-22 and 25-23 to earn the Highlanders its third straight win of the season and improving to 3-2 overall. Saint Francis U moves to 1-6 on the year.

As a team, NJIT combined for a .405 hitting percentage for the match paced by senior Alessandro Negri's 12 kills on 19 attempts for a .632 hitting percentage with no errors.

Senior Antonio Feliciano recorded eight kills on 18 swings and Andrew Fedmasu registered seven kills on nine attempts for a .667 hitting percentage.

Freshman Wiktor Nowak added eight kills and five digs for the Highlanders.

Junior Braeden Goebbert, who currently ranks second in the nation in hitting percentage and leads the EIVA Conference continued his impressive play at the net, posting six kills on seven swings with just one error for a .667 hitting percentage. 

Freshman setter Bruno Figueiredo combined for 31 assists and added six digs. Libero Diego Lopez posted 10 digs which shared match-high honors with Saint Francis U Kyle Charles.

Fedmasu led the Highlanders in front of the net with three block assists followed by Feliciano with two.

In the first frame, both teams traded points up until 12-11 in favor of the Red Flash when the Highlanders rallied off three straight and went on a 4-1 run to take control and go ahead 16-12. Saint Francis U closed the gap twice, cutting the deficit to two on two different occasions, the final at 23-21 but a pair of errors by the Red Flash secured the win for NJIT in the first frame, 25-21.

NJIT scored the first three points of the second frame and extended its lead in the mid-teens, 16-12, behind a 6-2 spurt capped by a double block by Nowak and Fedmasu. The Red Flash inched their way back into the set, slimming the Highlander lead to one on four occasions the final at 23-22 but it was the home team who scored back-to-back points to go ahead, 2-0 with a 25-22 victory.

In the third frame, NJIT took control from the start, jumping ahead 6-2 and extending to 8-2 resulting in a pair of timeouts by the Red Flash. The visitors came back and knotted the score at 10-all after using a 6-1 run. Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way until NJIT broke a 18-all tie and went on 5-2 run to take a 21-19 lead. Saint Francis U did not back down and battled back and scored three straight points to tie the set at 23-all but it was the Highlanders who scored the final two points, including a kill by Antonio Feliciano to secure the 3-0 home sweep with a 25-23 victory in the third frame.

NJIT, which completed a five-match homestand, will make its first road trip of the season and visit LIU Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. before returning back home to Newark for its second five-match homestand which begins Feb. 1.