New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…Junior middle blocker LIZZELLE CINTRON (Newark, NJ/Elizabeth)—this week’s Division III National Player of the Week—slammed 18 kills, and added seven blocks,  and sophomore outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) hammered 13 kills, as the New Jersey City University women’s volleyball team began their defense of the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship with a 3-0 sweep of William Paterson University, by scores of 32-30, 30-9, 30-21, in the NJAC opener for both teams at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

 

The win for NJCU (7-3, 1-0 NJAC)—which has won seven of its last eight matches—extends its home court unbeaten streak to 22 consecutive matches. The contest was NJCU’s 2006 home opener and one of only five home dates on the regular season calendar. WPU falls to 2-7 and 0-1 in the NJAC with the loss. NJCU has won the last four meetings against its long-time North Jersey rival.

 

In the match, third-year head coach CHRISTOPHER FELICIANO `03 moved within one of tying the program’s career record for victories by a coach. He now owns a 63-17 (.788) record in 80 matches. Frank Cella owned a 64-63 ledger over 127 matches in four seasons from 1995-98.

 

Cintron and LeBlanc each hit over .500 for the Gothic Knights, which amassed a .378 percentage as a team with 48 kills. The Knights made 14 hitting errors in the match on attack, but only four after the first game. WPU struggled on attack, hitting .088 for the match (19-14-57).

 

Cintron, who won the National Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career on Monday, and is now a seven-time NJAC Player of the Week, had 18 kills and only four errors in 25 attacks, for a .560 hitting percentage. She added seven blocks (six assisted), six digs, and three aces.

 

LeBlanc had 13 kills and only two errors in 21 swings, good for a .524 percentage. Sophomore setter SOFIA GUTIERREZ (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) delivered 31 assists and added three blocks.

 

Also for the Knights, junior outside hitter GLORINELL PEREZ (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) had seven kills, eight digs and three aces, while freshman outside hitter MICHELLE CINTRON (Newark, NJ/Elizabeth) contributed five kills and four assisted blocks.

 

Junior setter NADIA DaSILVA (Newark, NJ/Science) added 12 assists and sophomore libero LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) provided a match-high nine digs.

 

Junior outside hitter Tamara Miller (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) had six kills for the Pioneers, while junior middle hitter Tasha DelVacchio (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling) tallied six solo blocks. Junior setter Dana Hansen (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) contributed eight assists and three blocks.

               

NJCU came out sluggish in game one and fell behind by as many as five points, 20-15. The Knights had several chances to close out the frame, but 10 attack errors allowed WPU to hang with the Knights, including a 30-30 tie late in the game. A Cintron kill finally closed out the game, despite the Knights hitting .081 (13-10-37).

               

However, NJCU dominated games two and three. The Knights hit an astounding .750 in game two with 16 kills (16-1-20), limiting the Pioneers to single digits on the scoreboard. NJCU hit .485 (19-3-33) in the final game to close out the match.

               

NJCU returns to action on Friday, September 15 at 5 p.m. with matches against Mount Aloysius College and McDaniel College in day one of the two-day University of Scranton Invitational in Scranton, PA. NJCU has already defeated Mt. Aloysius this season in the Johns Hopkins Invitational, 3-1. WPU will host New York City College of Technology on Sept 14 at 7 p.m.