Game 2	NJIT (1-0; 17-11 in 2022) at McKendree (0-2; 14-11 in 2022)
Date | Time	Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | 7pm (CT)/8pm (ET)
Location | Arena	Lebanon, IL | Melvin Price Convocation Center
Live Video	GLVC Sports Network
Live Stats	In-game stats (free)

 

Game 3	NJIT (1-0; 17-11 in 2022) at Lindenwood (0-2; 8-14 in 2022)
Date | Time	Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | 7pm (CT)/8pm (ET)
Location | Arena	St. Charles, MO | Robert Hyland Arena
Live Video	ESPN+ ($$)
Live Stats	In-game stats (free)

NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT men's volleyball team will wrap up its opening-season three-match road swing on Tuesday, January 10 at McKendree and Wednesday, January 11 Lindenwood.

Game Information
First serve is slated for 7pm (CT)/8pm (ET) on both days.  In-game live stats are available on MckBearcats.com and LindenwoodLions.com.

All-Time Series
Vs. McKendree: McKendree leads the all-time series, 2-1.
1.7.20 | McKendree 3, NJIT 2
3.5.16 | McKendree 3, NJIT 1
3.17.14 | NJIT 3, McKendree 0

Vs. Lindenwood: Lindenwood leads the all-time series, 3-2
1.18.20 | NJIT 3, Lindenwood 1
1.25.18 | NJIT 3, Lindenwood 0
1.16.15 | Lindenwood 3, NJIT 1
3.18.14 | Lindenwood 3, NJIT 1
1.18.14 | Lindenwood 3, NJIT 1

Last Time Out
Visiting NJIT swept Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-0, in the season opener for the Highlanders behind a match-best 14 kills from sophomore Alessandro Negri Saturday evening in men's volleyball non-conference action inside Gates Sports Center.

Negri, a 2022 Freshman All-American Outside Hitter by OffTheBlock, finished the match with 14 kills on 23 attempts with just three errors for a .478 hitting percentage.  Senior Julian Meissner combined for 10 kills and a .368 hitting percentage.  Middle Carson Williams recorded five kills on six attempts in the win.

Setter Roque Nido piled up 33 assists while Negri led NJIT defensively with five digs followed by libero Antonio Feliciano with four.

Middle blocker Martin de Chavarria shared match-high honors with four total digs while Negri added three blocks (all assists).

The Highlanders held a big advantage in the service ace category, 7-2, paced by Negri's match-best four aces.

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.  

Scouting McKendree
McKendree enters Tuesday's match with an 0-2 record, opening the season at BYU (L, 3-0) and UC Irvine (L, 3-0).

The Bearcats finished the 2022 season with a program-high 14 wins and returned eight players this season after graduating five seniors from the 2022 season.  

Among the returners is two-time Second Team All-MIVA libero Francisco Comas, who was the only libero voted to the All-MIVA Preseason Team for 2023. Last season, Comas ranked sixth in the conference with 1.99 digs per set, finishing the season with 283 digs, the second-most in program history.

McKendree was picked to finish fifth out of eight teams in the Preseason Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Coaches Poll.

Graduate student libero and two-time All-MIVA Second Team selection Francisco Comas was named to the 2023 Preseason All-MIVA Team. Comas played in 95 sets for the Bearcats in 2022, recording a team-high 185 digs and ranking sixth in the MIVA with 1.95 digs per set.

Scouting Lindenwood
Lindenwood enters Wednesday's contest with an 0-2 record, having lost a pair of matches at Grand Canyon.

The Lindenwood men's volleyball team finished its 2022 campaign with an 8-14 record and a trip to the MIVA tournament before falling to Loyola Chicago in mid-April.

Next Up
NJIT will open its home portion of its schedule on Saturday, January 14 at 1pm inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center.