SANTA BARBARA, CA–The NJIT men's volleyball team battled to the end, falling in five-sets, 3-2, against UC San Diego Saturday evening in the final match of the 2024 ASICS Invitational hosted by UC Santa Barbara inside Rob Gym.
UC San Diego (2-1) defeated NJIT (0-3) 35-33, 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 10-15. The Tritons finished the Invitational (2-1) with wins over NJIT and No. 20 George Mason.
NJIT's Alessandro Negri led the match with 26 kills (tying personal-best mark) followed by Will Migdal (13k) and Antonio Feliciano (9k). Feliciano paced the Highlanders with 11 digs while Griffin Fieseler combined for 10, libero Ron Tidhar added nine and Migdal posted seven.
Fieseler recorded a double-double, posting 47 assists and 10 digs.
The Highlanders held a 10-to-5 advantage in service aces paced by Migdal and Fieseler with three apiece and two by Feliciano.
The first frame, which went extra sets, saw 21 ties and two lead changes with NJIT coming out on top 35-33, behind a .285 hitting percentage. Neither team led by as many as three and late in the set, NJIT down by one 32-31, scored the final three points of the set for a 35-33 victory to go ahead 1-0.
UC San Diego scored the first three points of the second frame and went ahead 6-2. NJIT responded by cutting the deficit to one, 6-5. Both teams traded points into the late teens with UC San Diego going up 21-17, resulting in an NJIT timeout. NJIT scored back-to-back points for a 21-19 score but UC San Diego scored the final four out of five points to record the 25-20 win and even the match at 1-1.
In the third frame, NJIT jumped out to a 7-3 lead and led by as many as five into the early teens, 13-8. UC San Diego scored the next six out of seven points, knotting the frame for the first time at 14-all. The Tritons took its first lead of the set 18-17 but the Highlanders used a 4-2 spurt, regaining the lead, 23-21, resulting in a timeout by UC San Diego. With the score tied at 23, NJIT scored back-to-back points, capped by an ace by Will Migdal to earn the 25-23 victory and go ahead, 2-1 in the match. NJIT finished with a .250 hitting percentage.
UC San Diego took an early 3-1 lead but the Highlanders answered with 6-1 spurt to take a 7-4 lead on a kill by Migdal. UC San Diego went on a 8-3 run to tie the set at 13-all. After three more ties, the final at 17-all, the Tritons used a 5-1 spurt to push its lead to as many as four, 22-18, resulting in an NJIT timeout. UC San Diego scored the final point of the frame for a 25-23 victory to force a fifth and deciding set.
In the fifth and deciding frame, UC San Diego opened up the set 5-1, resulting in an early timeout by the Highlanders. NJIT closed the gap to within three, 11-8, but UC San Diego closed out the match on a 4-2 run for a 15-10 victory and secured the 3-2 win.
UC San Diego had three players reach double-digit kills–Anthony Cherfan (15), Sebastian Lara (13) and Matthew Lim (10). Evan Boyle led the match with 15 digs and Peter Selcho notched 12 total blocks (all assists) followed by Lara with nine.
NJIT will host a pair of matches at home next week inside the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center, welcoming King (TN) on Friday, January 12 at 4pm in the Highlanders' home opener. The next day, NJIT will host Purdue Fort Wayne at 7pm as part of a doubleheader with the NJIT women's basketball team, hosting Vermont at 1pm on ESPN+.
