LORETTO, PA–The NJIT men's volleyball team registered its first road win of the 2024 season in a five-set thriller, 3-2, at Saint Francis U Friday evening in men's volleyball non-conference action at DeGol Arena.
NJIT registered its fourth win in its last five matches, improving to an even 4-4 on the season while Saint Francis U, who entered on a two-match win streak, snapped, falling to 2-4 on the young season.
The Highlanders went up 2-0 after a 26-24 and 25-17 victories through sets one and two. The Red Flash rallied back to even the set at 2-2 as Saint Francis U recorded a 27-25 victory in the third set and 25-18 in the fourth frame.
In the fifth and deciding frame, NJIT took an early 3-1 lead but Saint Francis U responded with back-to-back points to tie the frame at 3-all. After a 5-5 tie, NJIT went ahead by two, 7-5, and NJIT finished the set out on a 3-1 run for a 15-11 victory, securing the five-set win, 3-2. The Highlanders recorded a . 553 hitting percentage in the final frame with tallying nine kills on 15 attempts and just one error.
NJIT was led by Josh Gregg's 10 kills followed by Alessandro Negri (9), Andrew Fedmasu (9) and Carson Williams (8). Fedmasu combined for a .500 hitting percentage on 12 attempts with three errors while Carson nearly hit perfect for the match, combining for eight kills on nine attempts with no errors for an .889 hitting percentage.
In front of the net, Fedmasu combined for nine total blocks (two solo, three assists), a new personal-best for the sophomore. Fedmasu was also the team leader in aces with three as a team, NJIT recorded 10.
Senior setter Griffin Fiesler piled up a match-best 34 assists, eight digs to go along with three block assists and freshman libero Ron Tidhar led the match with 12 digs.
After a close first set, neither team led by more than three points in the early teens after a kill by Alessandro Negri, 13-10. Saint Francis U went on a short 4-1 run for a 17-16 advantage. The set saw three ties, the final at 21-all with Saint Francis U taking a 24-22, resulting in a Highlander timeout. NJIT powered its way back, finishing out on a 4-0 run for a 26-24 victory.
The second frame started out just like the first, with the score tied at 10-10, NJIT went on a 5-1 spurt to jump ahead, 16-11. After four in a row for the Red Flash, NJIT took a timeout to regroup with Saint Francis U trimming the lead to two, 16-14. The Highlanders went on a 4-0 run of their own, increasing its lead to six, 20-14. NJIT took its biggest lead of the match, eight, 24-16, resulting in a Saint Francis U timeout but the Highlanders would go up 2-0 on a kill by Carson Williams with a 25-17 win. NJIT combined as a team for a .400 hitting percentage on seven kills, 15 attempts and just one error.
Saint Francis U scored the first three points of the third frame but the Highlanders scored the next two after surrendering the first three for a 3-2 score. NJIT went ahead for the first time in the frame behind a 5-2 spurt to take a one-point lead, 8-7. Both teams went back-and-forth as Saint Francis U went ahead by two , 11-9. The visitors used a 4-1 run to take a three-point lead, in the early teens, 15-12. The home team rallied back to tie the frame at 16-all and saw the Red Flash go ahead by two, 20-18. NJIT scored back-to-back points, including a block assist by Andrew Fedmasu and Carson Williams for a 20-all score. After four more ties, the final at 25-all, the Red Flash scored the final two points of the third set for a 27-25 win and forced a fourth set.
The Red Flash scored the first three points of the fourth set and went up 11-8 in the set. NJIT slimmed the lead to one, 11-10, on a kill by Josh Gregg but the Red Flash went ahead by as many as seven, 23-15, behind a 6-0 run. The home team would score the last two out of three points to force a fifth and deciding set with a 25-18 victory to even the match at 2-2.
Saint Francis U was led by Nathan Zini's match-best 13 kills and Andrew Deardroff's 12 kills. Ryan Parker combined for a double-double – 38 assists and 10 digs. Zini led the match with five service aces.
NJIT will have a quick turnaround and face Queens (Charlotte) on Saturday at 7pm before returning home for a pair of games vs. LIU (Feb. 1 at 6pm) and Merrimack (Feb. 3 at 1pm).
