NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT men's volleyball team will host Sacred Heart on Saturday, January 14 in the home opener for the Highlanders inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center.

Game Information
First serve is slated for 1pm inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center.  The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ and in-game statistics are available for free on NJITHighlanders.com.

All-Time Series
NJIT leads the all-time series, 22-10 and has won the last eight consecutive matches against Sacred Heart.

AVCA Preseason Division I-II Coaches Poll
The Highlanders received votes in the preseason and first regular season AVCA/NVA Men's Division I-II Coaches poll. 

NJIT will face five top-15 teams this season:
No. 12 Loyola-Chicago (Jan. 20)
No. 5 Pepperdine (Jan. 27)
No. 3 Long Beach State (Feb. 17-18)
No. 4 Penn State (Feb. 24-25)
No. 15 Princeton (Mar. 11/Apr. 14)

2022 Recap
The Highlanders finished the 2022 season with a 17-11 overall mark and made an appearance in the 2022 EIVA finals for the third time in program history.  The 17 wins was the second most wins since the 2007 season.

EIVA Preseason Poll
NJIT was picked to finish second in the 2023 EIVA Preseason Coaches Poll.  The Highlanders picked up one first-place vote and were second in the ballot behind conference favorite Penn State.

Highlander Lineup
NJIT returns its starting lineup from a season ago with the expectation of the libero position.  The two top hitters for NJIT a season ago are: Julian Meissner (3.62kps; .272 H%) and Alessandro Negri (2.89kps; .274 H%).

2023 Captains
The Highlanders will be led by graduate student Jens Feldthus and seniors Martin de Chavarria and Julian Meissner.

Meissner was selected to the EIVA All-Tournament team, All-EIVA first-team and selected to the EIVA All-Academic team.  De Chavarria earned EIVA All-Tournament honors, All-EIVA second-team and All-Academic honors.  Feldthus was named to the EIVA second-team and All-Academic team.

Freshman All-American in 2022
Outside hitter Negri was named Freshman All-American by OffTheBlock and was selected to the EIVA first-team after joining the Highlanders in January 2022 from Reggio Emilia, Italy.

All-Academic Honors
In 2022, NJIT earned United Marine Corps (USMC) and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) with one of its annual Team Academic Awards for the 2021-22 academic year.

NJIT boosted a 3.581 cumulative GPA, which included two student-athletes -- Josh Gregg and Joe Kennedy posting a 4.0 GPA, 15 student-athletes named to the Dean's List and 11 above a 3.5 GPA or higher this spring.

Eleven players were recognized to the 2022 EIVA All-Academic team.

New Kids on the Block
Three standouts joined the Highlanders in the 2022-23 season: transfer Will Migdal and true freshmen Braeden Goebbert and Andrew Fedmasu both who hail from Illinois.  

Scouting Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart opens the 2023 season on Friday, January 13 at Harvard and then will visit NJIT on Saturday, January 14 at 1pm.

Sacred Heart has a new conference to call home as the team begins play in the Northeast Conference after years in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. There's also new leadership in the program in head coach Adam Niemczynowicz. 

Sacred Heart was picked fifth in the preseason poll. Fellow EIVA transplants Saint Francis and St. Francis Brooklyn were picked at the top of the poll with the Red Flash garnering six of the eight first-place votes.

The Pioneers return five starters, including Second Team All-EIVA selection Patrick Mucherino. After serving primarily as a back-up during his first season, Mucherino burst onto the scene in 2022. He led the EIVA and ranked 21st in the NCAA with 341 kills, which rates sixth on the SHU single-season charts. His 3.31 kills per set is fourth in the conference.

Next Up
NJIT will break for a week and host back-to-back home matches inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center on Friday, January 20 vs. Loyola Chicago at 7pm and Saturday, January 21 vs. St. Francis BK at 2pm.

The match against the Ramblers will be streamed on ESPN+ and the match against the Terriers will be streamed live on AETV for free.