LIZZELLE CINTRON is the NJCU Women’s Athlete of the Week for the ninth time this season and the 25th time in the last three seasons after she was named Most Valuable Player of the 2006 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Tournament while leading the Gothic Knights to their first-ever ECAC Division III South championship in men’s or women’s volleyball. She was also named New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the seventh time this season, and became the all-time leader in kills in the history of the league.
The ECAC title is the 12th by any team in NJCU history and the third by a women’s team. It was only the second volleyball title won by an NJAC school.
In 12 games over three matches, Cintron averaged 8.46 points, 6.58 kills, 3.58 digs, 1.92 blocks, 0.50 assists, and 0.42 aces per game while posting a .496 percentage. She had 101.5 points, 79 kills, 43 digs, 23 blocks and five aces. She also moved into seventh place in Division III history in career kills.
Cintron was named Most Valuable Player of a tournament for the third time this season as she guided the Knights to their first post-season championship in history. NJCU set a single-season program record with 33 victories and extended its home court winning streak to 32 matches.
On Saturday, November 11, NJCU, the No. 1 seed, defeated No. 4 Franklin & Marshall, 3-1 (16-30, 30-21, 30-21, 30-20) in the semifinals and #2 Penn State-Behrend, 3-1 (30-21, 27-30, 30-28, 30-25).
Cintron entered the day with 2,192 career kills, and 11th in Division III history. In two matches, she increased her astonishing career total to 2,248, as she vaulted over four players into seventh place in Division III history.
When she eclipsed Rutgers-Newark’s Domini Lanzone (1999-03) four-year total of 2,217, she became the all-time leader in career kills in the history of the NJAC in just three seasons. Cintron is on pace to move into the Top five all-time in the first week of the 2007 season and could finish No. 2 in Division III history.
Cintron also broke her own single-season school record with 846 kills, surpassing her total of 831 in 2004. The 846 kills ranks fourth in Division III history since the 30-point rally scoring format was adopted.
In Saturday’s final, Cintron led all players with 34 kills (34-6-57) and a .491 percentage, with 17 digs, eight blocks (three solo) and three aces. It marked her 15th career match of 30 or more kills and sixth this season and NJCU improved to 12-3 all-time when she collected 30 in a match. She also exceeded 25 kills in a match for the 27th time in her career.
In the win over F&M, Cintron nearly posted a triple-double with 22 kills (22-4-33), a .545 hitting percentage, 15 digs and seven blocks (three solo).
In NJCU’s 3-1 (30-21, 20-30, 30-20, 30-21) win over No. 8 Neumann College in the quarterfinals on November 10, she planted a match-high 23 kills (23-6-37), hit .459, and added 11 digs, eight blocks (six solo) and two aces.
Cintron currently ranks No. 1 in Division III in hitting percentage and fourth in kills per game, and is a primary reason why NJCU ranks No. 1 in Division III in team hitting percentage.
