Box Score 
 
CAMBRIDGE, MA—NJIT sophomore Kajetan Borecki notched a match-high 20 kills while adding seven total blocks for the Highlanders but it wasn't enough as Harvard nipped NJIT, 3-2, in EIVA men's volleyball action Friday at the Malkin Athletic Center.
 
Harvard, which previously saw a 12-match home streak come to an end last Saturday, bounced back Friday defeating the visiting Highlanders, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23, 17-15 improving to 15-8 overall, 8-4 in the conference.
 
NJIT, which came into the match with back-to-back wins over Rutgers-Newark, fall to 6-19 overall, 3-8 in the EIVA.
 
Harvard, who is currently in fourth place of the EIVA, takes the season series from the Highlanders with the Crimson blanking NJIT in Newark on February 22.
 
DJ White paced Harvard with 16 kills followed by Kyle Rehkemper with 13 and Michael Owen with 11 kills respectively.  Caleb Zimmich finished the match hitting .400 with eight kills on 15 swings and just two errors while also leading the match with a total of nine blocks (one solo, eight assists).
 
Setter Rob Lothman piled up a match-high 57 assists while posting five digs and five total blocks (one solo, four assists) as Chris Gibbons dug-up a team-high 10 digs.
 
In addition to Borecki's match-high 20 kills, junior Dhruv Lad added 10 kills and sophomore Chris Kaepernick notched nine kills for the visitors.  Freshman middle Ryan Thomas hit .556 with five kills on nine swings with no errors.
 
Setter Zak Robben combined for 55 assists, a new career-high for the sophomore and libero Oren Zyndorf posted a match-high 19 digs.  The 19 kills is a new career-high for Zyndorf.
 
Borecki and Doug Battersby each combined for seven total blocks (one solo and six assists) as the Crimson held a slight edge over the Highlanders in the team-blocking column, 18.5-to-11.
 
In the first frame, the score remained close until 10-9, when the Highlanders rallied off four straight points for a 14-9 advantage, resulting in a Crimson timeout.
 
The Highlanders would later extend its lead to 17-13, as NJIT's Kevin Van Oss and Lad combined for the block.  The home team crawled its way back into the frame pulling with two of the Highlanders on several occasions, the final at 23-21, on a kill by Brandon Clemens.  NJIT finished off the set with a kill by Lad and a solo block by Van Oss for a 25-21 advantage.
 
NJIT, which hit .316 in the second set, blew open the set scoring five unanswered points for a 14-9 lead..  The Highlanders which never trailed the rest of the way closed out the frame with a 25-18 score.

Harvard won the third and fourth frame resulting in the decisive fifth set.
 
In the deciding frame, NJIT jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead after a Crimson attack error.  Harvard knotted the frame, 7, after a short 4-1 run.  The match seesawed back and forth until the Highlanders took a two-point advantage, 13-11, on a kill by Borecki. 
 
Harvard's White answered with a kill of his own as NJIT head coach Ryan McNeil called for a timeout to regroup his team.  Out of the timeout, NJIT's Thomas put down a kill for a 14-12 advantage and match-point but the Crimson combined for back-to-back kills knotting the set at 14.
 
NJIT's Thomas came back with another kill giving the Highlanders a one-point advantage, 15-14, but a pair of blocks by Harvard's Zimmick and Owen and a kill by Zimmick, Harvard closed out the match with a 17-15 victory.
 
NJIT will return to action on Saturday at 7pm when the Highlanders visit Sacred Heart.