SPARKILL, NY–The NJIT men's volleyball team dropped a five-set tilt in non-conference action at St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday evening.
NJIT took a 1-0 lead after a 26-24 victory in the first set but St. Thomas knotted the set at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory in the second frame. NJIT regained the lead in the third set with a 25-19 victory. The Spartans forced a fifth and deciding set with a 25-17 victory in the fourth frame and held on for the 15-13 victory in the final set for a 3-2 win over the Highlanders.
Leading the way for NJIT was senior Alessandro Negri who combined for 19 kills with a .326 hitting percentage. Josh Gregg added 11 kills for NJIT. Setter Gil Zyndorf piled up 40 assists and 10 digs for a double-double while libero Diego Lopez posted nine digs. Negri added eight digs.
In front of the net, Andrew Fedmasu notched eight total digs (one solo, seven assist) followed by Zyndorf with four block assists.
NJIT will return to EIVA Conference action on Friday night at 6pm when the Highlanders visit George Mason at 6pm on ESPN+. In the first meeting of the season, NJIT defeated then-ranked No. 20 George Mason 3-2 in Newark.
