Game 1	NJIT (0-0; 17-11 in 2022) at PFW (0-0; 17-13 in 2022)
Date | Time	Saturday, January 7, 2023 | 7pm
Location | Arena	Fory Wayne, IN | Gates Sports Center
Live Video	ESPN+
Live Stats	In-game stats (free)

 

NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT men's volleyball team will open the 2023 season on the road at Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, January 7.

Game Information
First serve is slated for 7pm on ESPN+ with in-game statistics live on GoMastodons.com.

All-Time Series
Purdue Fort Wayne owns a 15-3 all-time series record against NJIT. 

In the last two meetings between the two teams, NJIT picked up a pair of 3-0 victories (January 23, 2022 & January 23, 2020).  Both games were played in Newark, NJ. The last time PFW defeated the Highlanders was in 2019.

AVCA Preseason Division I-II Coaches Poll
The Highlanders received votes in the preseason 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.

Earlier this season, 11 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.  

Next Up
NJIT will stay on the road for their next two matches and visit McKendree on January 10 and Lindenwood on January 11.  Both games are slated for 7pm (CT); 8pm (ET).