OCTOBER 10-16, 2005
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For the seventh time in two seasons, sophomore middle blocker LIZZELLE CINTRON (Newark, NJ/Elizabeth) has been selected as the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Player of the Week. Cintron also received New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for the third time in four weeks and the second week in a row, and in an award-winning week, she has been selected as the NJCU Women's Student-Athlete of the Week for the 12th time in her career and the sixth consecutive week in 2005.
After receiving the ECAC award five times in 10 weeks as a freshman in 2004, she now has scored the accolade seven times in 16 possible weeks to begin her career. One award is given weekly for all 172 Division III volleyball-sponsoring schools on the east coast under the ECAC umbrella. Last season, Cintron was ECAC Player of the Week on September 22, October 6 and 13, and November 3 and 10. She previously earned the award this season on September 28.
In a perfect 5-0 week for the Gothic Knights, Cintron posted astronomical numbers in several categories, and was named the Most Valuable Player as NJCU won the Gothic Knight Invitational for a second consecutive year. In 18 games over five matches, she averaged 7.78 points, 5.83 kills, 4.72 digs, 2.39 blocks, and a .403 hitting percentage, with totals of 140.0 points, 105 kills, 85 digs, and 43 blocks. She became the seventh NJCU woman to record 1000 career digs, notched two triple-doubles in five matches, and became NJCU’s all-time leader in solo blocks.
Cintron’s ECAC award puts an exclamation mark on a historical week for the NJCU women’s volleyball program, in which it defeated Richard Stockton College, 3-1, for the first win over the Ospreys in program history, followed by a win at William Paterson University to capture the NJAC regular-season championship for the first time in any women’s sport in school history.
Behind a triple-double effort of 24 kills, 20 digs, 14 blocks and a .375 hitting percentage by Cintron, NJCU overpowered Stockton on October 11, 3-1, by scores of 30-25, 26-30, 30-24, 30-26. RSC had been 34-0 against NJCU all-time. Seven of her 14 blocks were solo rejections. That gave her 163 solo blocks, and in only two seasons, allowed the 5-foot-9 middle to eclipse Melissa Pablos’ record of 158 from 2000-03. Cintron also is the all-time leader in kills, total blocks, and assisted blocks, and is closing in on the points record.
On October 13, when NJCU outlasted rival William Paterson in Wayne, 3-2, (23-30, 30-27, 30-24, 24-30, 15-13), Cintron notched her second consecutive triple-double, posting 33 kills, 32 digs, 12 blocks, and a .467 hitting percentage. She tallied season highs in kills (33-5-60) and digs, marking the ninth time in her career she has smacked 30 or more kills in a match, and the sixth time with 30 or more digs. It also marked her fourth career triple-double and fourth match with double-digit blocks. With 136 blocks this season following the WPU match, Cintron broke her own single-season record of 128 set in 2004.
For the second consecutive year, Cintron scored MVP honors at the 12
th annual Gothic Knight Invitational, as NJCU swept Rutgers University-Camden (30-15, 30-12, 30-15), William Paterson University (30-18, 30-8, 30-24) and College of St. Elizabeth (30-20, 30-8, 30-17. She was a unanimous choice for MVP after compiling 48 kills, 33 digs, and 17 blocks in nine games over the three matches. She averaged 5.33 kills, 3.67 digs, and 1.89 blocks per game and hit .378.
Through October 17, Cintron leads the NJAC in hitting percentage (.409), kills (433), kills per game (5.03), blocks (153.0), blocks per game (1.78), points (581.0) and points per game (6.76). She is second in digs (436) and fifth in digs per game (4.43). Additionally, she is the only player in the NJAC averaging more than 1.00 blocks per game, and her hitting percentage is a staggering .115 higher than any other player in the league.
