Newark - Teams from the west have won 44 out of 52 NCAA championships, so when it comes to men's volleyball, the west coast is king. So, when Long Beach State--the number two ranked team in the country, and a three-time national champion--came into the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center on the New Jersey Institute of Technology campus, the Highlanders knew they would be in for a fight.
A fight is what is what NJIT got from Long Beach. However, it was not always the Beach that was dolling out the blows as the Highlanders were able to take a set against their highly ranked opponent from the Golden State, and remained competitive in two of the three other sets, in a 3-1 (29-31, 25-23, 16-25, 22-25) setback.
The first set was a rather back and forth affair with NJIT getting ahead by as much as six at 15-9 before the Beach rallied back to tie set one at 15. From there neither team really took control until a Highlander error and a Long Beach kill ended a marathon first set at 31-29.
The home team would even things up in set two. NJIT would go up by as much as four on two occasions, once at 9-5, and again at 15-11. However, unlike set one, the Highlanders were able to maintain the lead despite continued pressure from LBSU to take the second set 25-23.
Set three would belong to Long Beach. After NJIT pulled within two, at 15-13, Long Beach would use two kills and a service ace, combined with three Highlander errors, to rattle off six straight points to go up 21-13. From there, Long Beach was able to hold NJIT to only three more points and win the second set 25-16.
The fourth, and final set was a set of runs. Four Highlander attack errors were the catalyst in the first run as Long Beach used them, and two kills of their own to go up 13-6. However, NJIT would not go away easily, as, down 16-10, the Highlanders used two Beach attack errors along with two Carson Williams kills to pull within 16-14. Despite a valiant effort, a fifth set was not in the cards though as Long Beach was able to fend off NJIT the rest of the way to win set four, 25-22.
Statistically, outside hitters Alessandro Negri and Antonio Feliciano led NJIT in kills with 18 and 13 respectively, with Feliciano recording the better attack percentage of the two (.333 compared to .211). Directing the offense, setter Griffin Fieseler dished out 43 assists along with leading the Highlanders from the service line with three, of NJIT's five, aces. On defense, NJIT libero Ron Tidhar worked to prevent Long Beach attacks from hitting the floor on his way to registering 12 digs for the match.
Highlanders Top Lindenwood in Straight Sets
Negri had 13 kills to also lead the NJIT offense against Lindenwood as the Highlanders bested the Lions 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-17) a night before NJIT's showdown with Long Beach. Fiesler tallied 33 assists to help direct the NJIT offense while, defensively, Tidhar had eight digs and Andrew Fedmasu had a hand in seven blocks (six block assists and one solo block) against Lindenwood.
Up Next
Next up, NJIT will travel to Loretto, Pa. where the Highlanders will first face St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday before matching up against Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday.
