New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University had never defeated Richard Stockton College in a women’s volleyball match. Tuesday, with control of the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings on the line, history shifted. Behind a triple-double effort of 24 kills, 20 digs, 14 blocks and a .375 hitting percentage by sophomore middle blocker LIZZELLE CINTRON (Newark, NJ/Elizabeth) and a single-match team record 20 total blocks, NJCU overpowered Stockton, 3-1, by scores of 30-25, 26-30, 30-24, 30-26 in a NJAC match at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

              

NJCU improves to 17-5 overall and remains undefeated in the conference at 5-0, while tying the school record for NJAC victories in a season (5-3, 2002). RSC falls to 16-6 and 3-1 in the NJAC. The Knights have won four straight, 13 of their last 14 matches overall, and are a perfect 14-0 at home in the two-year career of head coach CHRISTOPHER FELICIANO, who is 47-11 in his tenure.

              

“Being ranked fifth in the preseason poll gave our club motivation throughout the entire season to get to this point,” Feliciano said. “When camp opened, our goal was to compete for the NJAC conference title. With our victory today, we took an important step toward achieving that ultimate goal. Stockton is a terrific program that I have a lot of respect for. Being a graduate of NJCU [May ’03] and experiencing some of the rough years the program had in the past, I cannot say enough about the significance of this victory.”

              

LIZZELLE CINTRON and JACQUELINE LEBLANC" src="/images/wvball/2005/10/12/09-22-05%20Lizzelle%20Cintron%20and%20Jacqueline%20LeBlanc%202.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Entering the match, Stockton had won all 34 meetings between the schools since 1983, with 30 sweeps. Now, NJCU cemented sole possession of first place in the NJAC at 5-0, as the two second-place clubs, Rutgers-Newark and Stockton are 3-1, with losses to the Knights. NJCU only needs to win one of its final two NJAC matches against William Paterson University and Kean University to capture the league’s regular season championship, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and home court advantage throughout.

 

NJCU has never won a conference regular season title in a women’s sport. Furthermore, this is the furthest into a season in any women’s sport NJCU has owned first place.

 

In a match-up of the two probable candidates for NJAC Player of the Year, Cintron led NJCU, while senior outside hitter Whitney Verduin (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne), the 2004 NJAC winner, paced the Ospreys.

 

Cintron was sensational, posting her third triple-double of the season, and breaking her fourth career record, becoming the all-time leader in solo blocks. With 24 kills, she committed only three errors in 56 attacks, for a .375 rate. She had 20 digs and 14 blocks, including seven solo rejections. That gives her 163 solo stuffs, and in only two seasons, has eclipsed 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 point record. Her 14 total blocks is second in single-match history (Pablos, 19, 09/22/2001).

 

MEAGAN ROBERTS" src="/images/wvball/2005/10/12/09-22-05%20Meagan%20Roberts%202.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>In a total team effort, it was the NJAC-leading blocking ability of NJCU which slowed down the RSC attack. The Knights posted 20.0 total blocks, tying the single-match record achieved at City College of New York on September 22, 2001.

 

Freshman outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) and sophomore middle blocker MEAGAN ROBERTS (Union, NJ/Union) each smacked 10 kills and had five blocks, and LeBlanc added 17 digs.

 

As young as the Gothic Knights are, one of the largest contributions in the win came from the lone senior, as defensive specialist JOANNA MIEDZWIEDZ (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) delivered a match-high 24 digs.

              

Freshman outside hitter SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science) had seven assisted blocks, while sophomore outside hitter GLORINELL PEREZ (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) had 18 digs, five kills and three aces.

 

JOANNA MIEDZWIEDZ" src="/images/wvball/2005/10/12/09-22-05%20Joanna%20Miedzwiedz%205.jpg" width=150 align=left border=0>Sophomore setter NADIA DaSILVA (Newark, NJ/Science) tallied 24 assists and two blocks, while freshman setter SOFIA GUTIERREZ (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) had 19 assists and eight digs. Freshman libero LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) collected 15 digs.

 

For the Ospreys, Verduin posted a team-high 19 kills (19-12-54) and 18 digs but was limited to .130 hitting. Freshman outside hitter Amanda Burkart (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) had 16 kills (16-10-48, .125), 11 digs and three aces. Junior middle hitter Lauren Schaffer (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) finished with 10 kills (10-5-30, .167) and seven blocks.

 

Also for RSC, senior setter Kate Hahn (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) dished 37 assists, 14 digs and three aces, while freshman setter Christine Aletras (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) added 17 digs and 10 assists. Junior libero Colleen Bachmann (Closter, NJ/Northern Valley-Demarest) matched Miedzwiedz with 24 digs and landed three aces.

 

In a battle of the top two schools in the NJAC in digs, kills, and hitting percentage, the defense of each club slowed down the offense of the opposition. NJCU hit .138 overall (53-28-181) while RSC finished at .093 (60-41-204).

 

In game one, Stockton built a 16-9 lead, before NJCU rolled off a 10-3 run to tie the match at 19-19 with a Roberts/LeBlanc block. The game remained tied, 23-23, before three straight RSC errors put NJCU in front 26-23. A Cintron kill and Cintron/Torres combined block gave the Knights the opener.

 

It was Stockton making a comeback in game two. The Ospreys opened up leads of 17-11 on a Verduin kill, 24-17, and 28-21. The Knights battled back and closed it to 28-24 and 29-26, before losing the game on a service error.

 

In game three, NJCU raced out to a 7-3 lead on a Roberts kill, before RSC knotted the score at 10-10 on a Schaffer attack. NJCU moved ahead 15-12 and 18-15, but RSC uncorked a 5-0 run for a 20-18 edge. Neither team would budge, as the score was tied four more times in the game, including 23-23. However, the Knights scored seven of the final eight points, and received two huge combined blocks by LeBlanc and Roberts to grab a 29-24 lead, before an RSC attack sailed long for game point.

 

NJCU dominated the early stages of the fourth game, and stormed ahead 17-7 on a monster kill by Cintron. A 9-1 run by RSC closed to gap to 18-16 on consecutive aces by Burkart. A Cintron kill, Perez ace, and LeBlanc kill increased the score to 21-16, and after two hitting errors by the visitor, NJCU added to its lead at 24-17. RSC trimmed the lead to five, 26-21, on a Verduin kill. However, Roberts notched three consecutive kills for the 27^th, 28^th, and 29^th points, and Perez sealed the most significant women’s volleyball regular season victory in school history with a kill on the outside.

 

NJCU looks to improve to 6-0 in the league when it travels to Wayne, NJ to square off with William Paterson University on Thursday, October 13 at 7 p.m.