VIDEO: NJIT Highlights at George Mason
FAIRFAX, VA–Sophomore Alessandro Negri led the match with 17 kills as visiting NJIT picked up a thrilling five-set victory Thursday evening at George Mason in the opening weekend of EIVA Conference men's volleyball action for both teams.
NJIT, winners of two in a row, improves to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the EIVA while George Mason, still in search of its first win in 2023, moves to 0-5 on the season and 0-1 in the EIVA.
The Highlanders won in five sets – 18-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-23 and 16-14.
Negri, who led the match with 17 kills, finished with a .350 hitting percentage and eight digs. Graduate student Jens Feldthus combined for 14 kills followed by Julian Meissner with 11. Senior Martin de Chavarria added six kills on 11 attempts with just one error for a .455 hitting percentage.
Graduate student Roque Nido paced the match with a season-best 48 assists, team-leading three service aces and three digs. Libero Antonio Feliciano registered a career-best 13 digs. Chavarria led the match with seven total blocks (one solo, six assists).
George Mason's Liam French combined for 14 kills, five service aces and two digs and two block assists in the home loss.
An early back and forth to set the fifth and deciding set, NJIT took a two-point advantage, 7-5, behind a kill from Alessandro Negri and a block by Carson Williams. George Mason tied the set four more times the final at 14-14 but the visiting Highlanders scored the final two points, including Jens Feldthus' kill for match-point.
In the first set, both teams traded points early as George Mason used a 9-1 run in the early teens to take a 16-10 lead. NJIT rallied back and slimmed the lead to as many as four, 19-15, on a kill by Alessandro Negri. George Mason closed out the frame on a 5-2 run to secure the 25-18 victory.
NJIT opened the second frame on a 6-2 lead, including consecutive block assists by the Highlanders. George Mason came back to knot the set at 9-all on a 3-1 spurt but NJIT scored three straight points to regain the lead, 12-9. NJIT went on a 10-3 run to extend its lead, 20-12, on four straight points for an eight point lead. The Highlanders hit .500 in the set, finding a rhythm and scored the final three points to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-16 victory.
George Mason started off the third set on a 9-4 run, scoring three straight points but the Highlanders pulled within two on two straight for a 9-6 score on a kill from Negri. The home team went up 12-7, using a 3-1 run, resulting in an NJIT timeout. Sparked by a kill from Martin de Chavarria, NJIT went on a 4-1 spurt to pull within one of the Patriots, 18-17, on a kill by Carson Williams. The Patriots pulled back in front 21-18 but NJIT answered with three straight kills, knotting the set at 21-all. George Mason scored the final four points of the frame, capped back-to-back aces to go ahead 2-1 after a 25-21 victory.
Both teams traded points early in the fourth set with neither team leading by more than one until the Highlanders broke a 10-10 tie and scored four straight points to take a 14-10 lead behind consecutive blocks on the outside and a kill by Julian Meissner. NJIT continued to increase its lead, taking a six-point lead 21-15 on a kill by Williams. A 3-0 run for George Mason cut the Highlander deficit to 21-18 and a 4-1 run later cut the lead to one, 24-23, but NJIT's Jens Feldthus scored the final points of the set on a kill to force a fifth set after a 25-23 win.
NJIT will face No. 5 Pepperdine on Friday at 5pm on the campus of George Mason.
