NEWARK, NJ – Freshman Andre Aleixo has been named the 2026 Tom Tait Memorial Freshman of the Year, headlining a group of six Highlanders who earned All-Conference recognition, the league office announced Tuesday.

In addition to his Freshman of the Year honor, the 6-foot-4 outside hitter earned All-EIVA Second Team accolades. Three Highlanders—Bruno Figueiredo, Daniel Latkowski, and Wiktor Nowak—were selected to the All-EIVA First Team, while junior libero Diego Lopez joined Aleixo on the Second Team. Freshman Alex Heins received All-EIVA Honorable Mention recognition.

Andre Aleixo
Freshman of the Year | Second Team All-EIVA
Aleixo, a one-time EIVA Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, ranked 10th in the conference in kills per set (2.86) and fifth in service aces per set (0.32). He recorded two double-doubles this season—10 kills and 10 digs in his collegiate debut at Hawai'i, and 12 kills with 14 digs against Sacred Heart in the regular-season finale. Aleixo posted 15 double-digit kill performances, including a career-high 16 kills against Jessup.   NJIT last earned EIVA Freshman of the Year honors in 2020 with Julian Meissner and previously in 2018 when Alvaro Gimeno received the award.

Bruno Figueiredo
First Team All-EIVA | All-Academic Team
A two-time All-EIVA selection (honorable mention in 2025), Figueiredo ranked second in the conference with 855 total assists and third in assists per set (9.61). He recorded double-digit assists in 25 of 26 matches, highlighted by a career-best 52 assists against Princeton.

Daniel Latkowski
First Team All-EIVA
Latkowski, a two-time EIVA Defensive Player of the Week, ranked third in the conference in blocks per set (1.03). He posted a career-best 10 blocks (all assists) at Harvard and hit an impressive .473 on the season while averaging 1.59 kills per set. He recorded at least one block in 17 of 20 matches played.

Wiktor Nowak
First Team All-EIVA | All-Academic Team
Nowak, an EIVA Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honoree, led the conference in kills per set (3.83). He recorded double-digit kills in 18 of 26 matches, including a streak of seven consecutive matches. His season was highlighted by a career-high 29 kills against Princeton and a 14-kill, 11-dig double-double against FDU.

Diego Lopez
Second Team All-EIVA
A two-time All-EIVA selection (honorable mention in 2025), Lopez ranked eighth in the conference in digs per set (1.69). He recorded three matches with 10 or more digs, including a career-best 15 at Harvard.

Alex Heins
All-EIVA Honorable Mention
Heins ranked seventh in the EIVA in blocks per set (0.92) and hit .409 on the season while averaging 1.44 kills per set. He tallied 11 kills in NJIT's win over Manhattan and recorded at least one block in 17 of 19 matches.

Eight Highlanders earned EIVA All-Academic recognition:
Mateusz Bobkowski, NJIT, SR., M, London, U.K., 3.33 GPA, Mechanical Engineering
Bruno Figueiredo, NJIT, SO., S, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3.45 PA, Business
Sid Ganapathy, NJIT, SO., MB, Bridgewater, N.J., 3.73 GPA, Biomedical Engineering
Harrison Girard, NJIT, SO., OH ,Greenwich, Conn., 3.86 GPA, Biology
Parker Moorhead, NJIT, R-SO., OH, Glen Ellyn, Ill., 4.00 GPA, Chemical Engineering
Wiktor Nowak, NJIT, SO., OPP, Siedlce, Poland, 3.90 GPA, Financial Technology
Brody Stuttgen, NJIT, R-FR., S, Middleton, Wis., 3.90 GPA, Financial Technology
Ron Tidhar, NJIT, SO., LB, Ramat Gan, Israel, 3.69 GPA, Electrical Engineering

Highlander Hits
NJIT enters postseason play riding a five-match winning streak, having won 18 of its last 21 contests. The Highlanders are 18-8 overall and 9-3 in EIVA play, finishing the regular season undefeated at home. NJIT is one of three NCAA Division I programs to go unbeaten on its home court this season, joining UCLA (10-0) and UMES (11-0).

The 18 wins mark the program's highest total since 2007 (19 wins), while nine conference victories are the most since the 2022 season.

Next Up
The 2026 EIVA Conference Tournament will be held April 23–25 at Penn State's University Park campus. Regular-season champion Penn State is the No. 1 seed, while NJIT enters as the No. 2 seed and will face the winner of No. 3 George Mason vs. No. 6 Princeton on Thursday, April 23.

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