Two in a Row, NJIT Dominant in 3-0 Home Sweep vs. Harvard

The NJIT men's volleyball team won its second straight 3-0 EIVA Conference men's volleyball sweep Saturday afternoon, defeating visiting Harvard inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center.

With the win, NJIT moves to 13-8 overall, 8-4 in the EIVA.  The 13 wins for NJIT matches last seasons win-out while the eight wins sits the Highlanders in second in the league.  

NJIT recorded its 10th victory inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center Saturday and will conclude its home portion of its schedule on Friday, April 15 when the Highlanders host St. Francis Brooklyn on Senior Night.  First spike set for 6pm.

The Highlanders won its second straight 3-0 match, defeating the Crimson 25-21, 25-19 and 25-20.  Harvard defeated the Highlanders earlier in the season, 3-1, in Cambridge, MA.

As a team, NJIT finished the match hitting .395 behind a match-best 14 kills from Julian Meissner followed by Carson Williams (9) and Alessandro Negri (6) and Jens Feldthus (6).

Meissner combined for a .526 hitting percentage while Williams hit an impressive .750 on 12 attempts.

Setter Roque Nido piled up a match-best 33 assists and added six digs and two block assists.

NJIT combined for 12 service aces, which ranks tied for 13th in the nation in a three-set match.  The last time NJIT registered 12 aces dates back to April 5, 2019 against Sacred Heart.

Leading the way in the service category was Meissner with five aces, one shy of his personal-best (6 vs. Penn State on February 14, 2021) followed by Negri with three and four different Highlanders recorded one ace.

Meissner and libero Joe Kennedy paced the match with seven digs and middle Martin de Chavarria posted four total blocks (two solo, two assists) as the Highlanders held a 8.0-to-3.5 team blocking advantage over the Crimson.  Chavarria entered the weekend ranked second in the nation in blocks per set.  Meissner added three total blocks (one solo, two assists).

Harvard's Campbell Schoenfeld led the Crimson with 10 kills while Ethan Smith added eight, finishing the match with an .800 hitting percentage.

A back and forth first set saw visiting Harvard take a three-point lead in the early teens, 14-11.  NJIT's Martin de Chavarria sparked a 6-1 run behind three consecutive aces by Julian Meissner for an 18-16 advantage.  NJIT closed out the set scoring the last four out of five points for a 25-21 victory led by six kills from Julian Meissner.  As a team, NJIT combined for five aces in the first frame, three coming from Meissner.

NJIT started off the second frame on a 9-5 and pushed ahead 11-7 on an ace by Alessandro Negri.  The Highlanders used a short 3-1 spurt to increase its lead to 15-11 on a Crimson service error.  NJIT maintained a four-point lead to secure a 25-19 win to go up 2-0.  

The Highlanders kept their momentum into the third set, taking an 11-7 lead and went ahead 13-9 on a kill by middle Carson Williams, never looking back to secure the 3-0 home sweep with a 25-20 victory behind a .478 hitting percentage.

NJIT will return to action next weekend when the Highlanders visit Saint Francis U (April 8) and No. 2/1 Penn State (April 9).  Both games are slated to start at 7 p.m.