NEWARK, NJ--NJIT, the No. 2 seed in the 2021 EIVA Conference Tournament will face No. 3 George Mason on Thursday, April 22 hosted by Penn State inside Rec Hall.

Game Information
Game time is slated for 4:30pm on Thursday, April 22. The matches will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus Network and in-game statistics are available on www.GoPSUSports.com. 

Highlanders Ranked No. 11 in NVA/AVCA Top-15 Ranking
The NJIT men's volleyball program ranked at No. 11 in the recent National Volleyball Association (NVA)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's Coaches top-15 poll the organization announced.

2021 EIVA Tournament Information
The EIVA Championship Tournament will be held April 22-24 at Rec Hall on Penn State's University Park Campus. The tournament returns for 2021 after the cancelation of the 2020 tournament – and final weeks of the regular season – due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Thursday, April 22
Semifinals
No. 2 NJIT vs. No. 3 George Mason, 4:30 p.m.
No. 4 Saint Francis (Pa.) at No. 1 Penn State, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 24
Finals
Semifinal winners

The winner of this week's tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA National Collegiate Championship. The Seven-team NCAA field will be announced April 25. The event begins May 3 and continues to the finals May 8, with all matches scheduled for Ohio State's Covelli Center.

All-Time Series vs. George Mason
George Mason leads the all-time series, 56-11.  This season, NJIT swept the series in Fairfax, Virginia and the series in Newark was cancelled due to COVID related issues.

Last Time Out
NJIT, playing for the first time since April 3, swept the weekend EIVA Conference series at Saint Francis U, 3-0, to conclude its final road match of the regular season Saturday afternoon in men's volleyball action.

NJIT (13-5, 13-3 in EIVA) won in straight sets 25-17, 25-13 and 25-23 led by a team-best 11 kills from Alvaro Gimeno followed by nine kills by Julian Meissner.  Gimeno hit .364 for the match and Meissner combined for a .444 hitting percentage. 

Freshman setter Griffin Fieseler led the match with 23 assists while adding eight digs and three kills.  Classmate libero Joe Kennedy paced the match with nine digs while in front of the net, Gimeno combined for five block assists.

Scouting NJIT
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 No. 10 and in the Off The Block National Media Poll on March 9, 2021.

The 2021 season marks the first time the Highlanders are making an appearance in the EIVA Tournament since 2008.  Coincidentally, the last opponent for NJIT to compete against in the postseason tournament was George Mason (George Mason 3, NJIT 2) on April 24, 2008.

2021 Bob Sweeny EIVA Coach of the Year Danny 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.

Six Highlanders were named to the EIVA All-Conference teams and 14 Highlanders selected to the EIVA All-Academic team.

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.

Scouting the Patriots
No. 14 George Mason enters Thursday's EIVA Tournament match with a 14-6

The Patriots have now made the EIVA Tournament for the third consecutive season.

Mason will look to improve from their previous two postseason appearances as they were both first round exits in (2019 & 2018).

Stay Connected
Stay up to date during the 2021 NJIT men's volleyball season by following @NJITMVB on Twitter and Instagram and liking the NJIT Men's Volleyball page on Facebook.