New Jersey City University Athletics

 

MONTCLAIR, NJ…Junior middle blocker LIZZELLE CINTRON (Newark, NJ/Elizabeth) smoked 22 kills, hit .500 and added 13 digs and seven blocks, and sophomore outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) hammered 19 kills with six blocks, as the New Jersey City University women’s volleyball team won their 11^th consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference match with a 3-1 (30-15, 30-21, 35-37, 30-19) victory over Montclair State University at Panzer Gymnasium.

 

NJCU improves to 11-4 overall and 2-0 in the NJAC, after the Gothic Knights went 9-0 in the league’s regular season and conference tournament last year. Montclair, which has dropped four straight, falls to 3-8 and 1-1 NJAC. MSU leads the all-time series, 16-5 since 1989, but NJCU has won four of the last six meetings, and three straight.

 

Cintron—the reigning three-time NJAC Player of the Week—hit .500 with 22 kills and only five errors (22-5-34), 13 digs, seven blocks and two aces, while LeBlanc landed 19 winners (19-9-43), with eight digs and six assisted blocks.

 

Sophomore setter SOFIA GUTIERREZ (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) uncorked 62 assists and seven digs. The 62 assists are a program record for a four-game match, breaking her own standard of 60 against Messiah College on September 8.

 

Sophomore middle blocker SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science) achieved a career high with 16 kills and matched her career best with eight blocks (three solo), while hitting .333 (16-6-30). Her previous high kill mark was 13 against Lehman College on September 6; Torres previously had eight blocks against William Paterson University on October 13, 2005.

 

Sophomore libero LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) provided a match-high 27 digs—one shy of her career best (28, vs. Catholic University, September 9, 2006).

 

Freshman outside hitter MICHELLE CINTRON (Newark, NJ/Elizabeth) did not make an attack error in 13 swings, finishing with eight kills, eight digs, and a .615 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter GLORINELL PEREZ (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) contributed 17 digs and seven kills.

 

For the Red Hawks, senior middle hitter Heather Aciz (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) had 13 kills and 22 digs. Karen Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/Washington Township) added 10 kills and 18 digs, and MSU received 33 assists from setter Raisa Silva (Newark, NJ/Newark East Side). Freshman Anna Chesnakova (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), the NJAC Rookie of the Week, had six kills and four solo blocks.

 

After winning games one and two easily, the third game was a back-and-forth affair with each team gaining multiple chances to take the contest. With the Red Hawks on game-point, LIZZELLE CINTRON unleashed a hard kill to tie the game at 32-32. MSU would get a second chance at 33-32, before LeBlanc tied it with a winner. Another kill by MICHELLE CINTRON tied it at 35-35, before an NJCU service error and kill by Kara Burnham (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) gave MSU the 37-35 win.

 

In the fourth game, the Gothic Knights used their solid hitting power to close out the match, 30-19. NJCU hit .406 in the final game (17-4-32) and finished the match with a .348 percentage and 73 kills.

               

For the first time this season, the team will not compete in a weekend tournament, and will next play on Tuesday, September 26 at 7 p.m. when it hosts Ramapo College in an NJAC match at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.