New Jersey City University Athletics

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…Ramapo College posted hitting percentages of at least .400 in three games, and finished with 71 kills and a .370 rate overall, as the Roadrunners defeated New Jersey City University, 3-1 (30-26, 30-23, 21-30, 30-19) in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division match at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

 

Ramapo improves to 21-11 overall and 9-3 in the NECVA Metro, winning its fifth straight meeting with NJCU, while sweeping the 2007 season series. The Gothic Knights (15-11, 7-7 NECVA Metro) lost their third straight and finished the conference slate at .500. It was the regular season finale for NJCU, who will likely be one of 16 teams to qualify for the NECVA Tournament next weekend in Rochester, NY.

 

Prior to the match, NJCU honored its two seniors—setter MAURICE WASHINGTON (Orlando, FL/Edgewater (FL) and opposite ROBERT GRIFFITHS (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens)—two of the top players in the history of the program, who were playing their final home match.

 

Ramapo had four players reach double figures in kills, led by junior opposite Brendan Whitford (Lyndhurst, NJ/St. Peter’s Prep), who had 21 kills and hit .444 (21-5-36) with seven digs and five blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Shane Donohue (Freehold Township, NJ/Freehold) collected 16 kills while hitting .414 (16-4-29), with eight digs and two solo blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Tom Kohler (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) had 10 kills and hit .412 (10-3-17) with five blocks.

 

Also for Ramapo, sophomore outside hitter TC Elsasser (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) had 11 MAURICE WASHINGTON" src="/images/mvball/2007/3/21/03-21-07%20Lizzelle%20Cintron%20and%20Maurice%20Washington.JPG" width=300 align=left border=0>kills and three blocks. Senior setter Jordan Roldan (Jersey City, NJ/St. Peter’s Prep) and sophomore setter Jairo Sierra (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) combined for 61 assists.

 

For NJCU, Griffiths made his home finale a solid one, hitting .440 with 14 kills (14-3-25) and eight digs while sophomore outside hitter KEVIN RODGERS (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) chalked up 14 kills (14-5-35, .257), seven digs and two blocks. Washington dished 38 assists and had three blocks (two solo). NJCU hit .216 overall in the match (47-22-116).

 

Also for NJCU, rookie middle hitter JOSE SILVA (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) finished with eight kills (8-4-16, .250) and three blocks. Freshman middle hitter DANIEL CRESPO (Paterson, NJ/Clifton) hit .444 with five kills (5-1-9) and eight digs.

 

MAURICE WASHINGTON" src="/images/mvball/2007/3/21/03-21-07%20Rob%20Griffiths%20and%20Maurice%20Washington%201.JPG" width=300 align=left border=0>NJCU and Ramapo each put on an attack show in game one, with RCNJ landing 22 winners for a .486 percentage (22-4-37), and the Knights accurate at a .346 rate (13-4-26). But after the two squads traded leads for two thirds of the game, NJCU gained a 20-18 margin off a Crespo kill. From there, a 5-0 run allowed RCNJ to pull ahead 23-20, and back to-back kills by Donohue extended the spurt to 7-1 and lead to 25-21. Ramapo was called for two unforced errors and NJCU closed within 27-26, before kills by Whitford and Elsasser closed a 30-26 win.

 

NJCU led game two 10-7 before another run put the Roadrunners in front. RCNJ led 18-14 on an Elsasser spike. NJCU battled back, closing to within one point on two occasions, including 21-20 on a Silva shot down the line. But RCNJ uncorked a 5-1 run capped by a Donohue backrow kill, and RCNJ won the frame, 30-23. Ramapo hit .432 in the game (21-5-37); NJCU hit just .143 (12-7-35).

 

NJCU easily won the third game to extend the match. Leading 10-5 early, two Silva kills made it 13-7 before Rodgers landed an ace in the back corner for a 17-8 margin. Two kills by Rodgers helped NJCU push the lead to 22-13, before Griffiths buried an attack for a 25-17 score. A kill by Rodgers and Crespo ace helped seal a 30-21 win. NJCU had its best accuracy of the match in the third game, hitting .379 (13-2-29). Ramapo finished at .167 in the game (13-7-36).

 

But Ramapo quickly took control of the fourth game, hitting .400 (15-5-25), while limiting NJCU to a .000 rate (9-9-26). Whitford had an assisted block and two kills to generate a 12-8 lead and several unforced errors by NJCU made it 19-13 Ramapo. The Roadrunners made it a double-digit lead when Elsasser and Kohler registered a block for a 23-13 margin, before Donohue closed the match with a kill.