For the fourth time in five weeks to begin the 2006 season, LIZZELLE CINTRON is both the NJCU Women's Athlete of the Week and the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
Cintron averaged 6.11 points, 4.89 kills, 2.89 digs, 0.72 aces and 0.67 blocks per game, while hitting an astounding .458, while leading the Gothic Knights (15-5) to a second place finish at the Brewer Invitational at Vassar College.
Cintron has now earned NJAC Player of the Week honors nine times in the last two years. NJCU did not compete in the NJAC in 2004.
Cintron, the reigning NJAC co-Player of the Year, led the Gothic Knights to another 4-1 week, which included two victories over NJAC rival Ramapo College, and was named to an All-Tournament team for the fourth time in four events this season. In all, she totaled 110 points, 88 kills, 52 digs, 13 aces and 12 blocks in 18 games over five matches. Cintron posted two double-doubles last week, and had 25 or more kills in a match twice. It was her 20th and 21st career match with 25 or more winners.
She opened the week by smoking 15 kills with only three errors in 22 attacks for a .545 hitting
percentage, while adding nine digs, a career-high eight aces, and three blocks in NJCU’s 3-1 (30-23, 30-19, 22-30, 30-15) conference victory over Ramapo College. Her previous career best in aces was five on two occasions. It was NJCU’s 23rd consecutive home court victory and extended NJCU’s consecutive NJAC regular season and tournament match winning streak to 12.
In the four matches at the Vassar Invitational, she averaged 6.07 points, 5.21 kills, 3.07 digs and 0.64 blocks per game in 14 games, with 85 points, 73 kills, 43 digs and nine blocks.
In a marathon 3-2 (30-28, 30-27, 26-30, 15-30, 20-22) loss to 2005 NCAA participant Vassar in the first match of the weekend on September 29, NJCU fell despite Cintron slugging 28 kills (28-8-54), hit .370 offensively, and added 21 digs and five blocks (three solo). It was the 18th 20-kill/20-dig match of her career and the 24th time she has defended 20 or more digs.
In a 3-0 (30-20, 30-28, 30-15) sweep of Mitchell College, she only played two games, yet posted a .833 hitting percentage, with 11 kills and just one error in 12 attacks, adding five digs.
In the 3-0 win against John Jay College on September 30 (30-9, 30-19, 30-22), Cintron smacked eight kills (8-2-11) and hit .545, with five digs, two aces and two blocks, as NJCU topped the Bloodhounds for the 12th consecutive time.
In the final match of the tournament, NJCU defeated Ramapo for the second time in a week and the seventh consecutive time, as Cintron powered her way to her 21st career match of 25 or more kills—the second time she accomplished the feat during the tournament—as she crushed 26 (26-9-43), and hit .395, with 12 digs and two aces in the Knights 3-1 (30-23, 13-30, 30-28, 30-27) decision over Ramapo.
Cintron continues to rank among the national leaders in kills per game, total kills, hitting percentage, total blocks, solo blocks, assisted blocks and blocks per game.
As of October 2, Cintron leads the NJAC in hitting percentage (.475), total kills (399), kills per game (5.32), total blocks (117) and assisted blocks (73). She ranks second in the league in blocks per game (1.56), third in total digs (273), fifth in solo blocks (44), and sixth in digs per game (3.64). She is the only player in the league hitting above .300, has 128 more kills than all other attackers, and is averaging more than a kill per game above the rest of the conference.
