NEWARK, NJ–Visiting Harvard closed out the fifth set on a 6-1 run en route to a 3-2 EIVA Conference victory inside NJIT's Wellness and Events Center in the home match finale for the Highlanders Saturday afternoon.
In pregame ceremonies, NJIT honored its graduating seniors – graduate students Jens Feldthus and Roque Nido and its graduating seniors – Carson Williams, Mason Matos, Julian Meissner, Martin de Chavarria and AJ Jones.
Harvard picks up the season series sweep against NJIT, recording a pair of 3-2 victories and improving to 9-13 overall, 2-6 in the EIVA while the Highlanders move to 8-15 overall, 2-7 in the league.
In the fifth and deciding set, NJIT took control early with a 7-3 lead behind a 4-1 spurt, resulting in a Harvard timeout. Harvard slimmed the Highlander lead to two, 10-8, behind a 3-1 run. A quick 2-1 run for NJIT pushed its lead to three, 12-9, on a kill by Jens Feldthus placed in the back right corner of the court. Harvard went on a 4-1 run of their own to tie the frame at 12-all and take a 13-12 lead on an ace by Will Polster. A kill by Martin de Chavarria knotted the set at 13-all but Harvard, which finished on a 6-1 run, scored the final two points of the set to secure the 3-2 road victory with a 15-13 win.
Harvard opened up the match taking the first frame, 25-20, but the Highlanders rallied back to even the score at 1-1 with a 25-22 victory in the second set. The Crimson went up 2-1 with a 25-19 victory in the third frame but the Highlanders fought back in the fourth set, cruising to an impressive 25-11 win to force a fifth and deciding set.
NJIT was led by a match-best 15 kills from Jens Feldthus followed by Roque Nido (11) and Alessandro Negri (11). Feldthus hit .412 for the match. Andrew Fedmasu combined for five kills on six attempts for a .833 hitting percentage. Martin de Chavarria added seven kills.
Defensively, Roque paced the Highlanders with 12 digs followed by Feldthus (10). Setter Griffin Fieseler combined for nine digs and 39 assists.
In front of the net, Feldthus led the match with six total blocks (one solo, five assists) while Fedmasu added five block assists and De Chavarria added four block assists for the Highlanders.
Leading the way for Harvard was Kade McGovern with 11 kills and Zach Berty with 10. James Bardin tallied 32 assists while McGovern registered nine digs.
Both teams traded points early in the first frame with neither team leading by more than two points until Harvard took a six-point advantage, 13-7. NJIT slimmed the Crimson advantage to four, 15-11 on a Harvard attacking error and later to 24-20 on a kill by Jens Feldthus. Harvard scored the final points for a 25-20 win.
Harvard scored the first two points of the second set and the Highlanders found themselves ahead by two, 10-8, after a kill by Alessandro Negri. The frame saw six more ties in the late teens as the Highlanders scored five straight points to take a three-point lead, 23-20. NJIT scored the final two points of the frame, including a set-point ace from Feldthus for a 25-23 victory to even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, the Crimson took a six-point lead, 12-7, behind three straight points. Harvard used a 4-1 spurt late in the set, taking a 18-11 advantage. NJIT cut the Crimson lead to five, 20-15 but Harvard closed out the set scoring the final three-out-of-four points for a 25-19 win to go ahead, 2-1.
NJIT started off the fourth set with a 11-4 lead, scoring seven consecutive points capped by block assists from Martin de Chavarria and Jens Feldthus. NJIT extended its lead to as many as 10, 15-5, behind an impressive 11-1 run resulting in a Harvard timeout. NJIT continued its momentum and forced a fifth and deciding set with a 25-11 victory.
NJIT will close out the regular season on Friday, April 14 at Princeton. First spike is slated for 6pm on ESPN+. Earlier this season, NJIT dropped a five-set thriller to the Tigers in Newark on March 11.
The EIVA tournament will be played April 19-22, hosted by the top seed. The bracket and tiebreak information can be found on EIVAVolleyball.com.
