New Jersey City University Athletics

 

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University hit .341 as a team and received 16 kills, 11 digs and eight blocks from senior middle blocker LIZZELLE CINTRON (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) who collected her 91st career double-double, and moved into 17^th place in Division I, II and III history in career kills with 2,457, as the Gothic Knights won their 34^th consecutive home court match, sweeping Montclair State University, 3-0 (30-25, 30-11, 30-23) in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

 

NJCU wins its seventh consecutive match to improve to 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the league; the Knights are tied for first with Richard Stockton College. Montclair drops its third straight, falling to 7-6 and 1-1 in the league. While MSU still leads the all-time series, 16-6 since 1989, NJCU has won five of the last six meetings and four straight.

 

The win gave fourth-year head coach CHRISTOPHER FELICIANO his 99^th career victory (99-23) in only his 123^rd match at the helm of the Gothic Knights. NJCU is 34-0 at home in his career.

 

Cintron belted 16 kills and only made two errors (16-2-27) for a .519 hitting percentage, and added 11 digs and eight blocks (three solo). She climbed into 17^th place in NCAA collegiate history in kills, passing Division I Stanford University’s Ogonna Nnamani who had 2,450 kills from 2001-04. Cintron needs two more kills for fourth most in history among Division III hitters.

 

Junior outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) increased her career kills mark to 1,039, finishing with 10 winners (10-4-19) and a .319 hitting percentage, while junior opposite SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science) hit .333 with nine kills (9-3-18).

 

Freshman setter ALEX JOHANESEN (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) delivered 23 assists and two aces, and senior setter #NADIA DaSILVA DUCOS# (Newark, NJ/Science) added 13 assists.

 

Senior libero GLORINELL PEREZ (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) increased her school record for digs to 1,784, adding 15 in the match and junior defensive specialist LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) chipped in 10 digs, as she increased her career total to 923. Sophomore outside hitter MICHELLE CINTRON (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) came off the bench and rode her jump serve to three aces.

 

NJCU’s blocking tallied 8.5 stuffs and held MSU to .010 hitting overall (23-22-97). The Hawks hit in positive territory in only the third game. In contrast, NJCU’s high attack game was the second at .429 (15-3-28) and finished with 44 kills overall (44-13-91).

 

MSU’s had two players with a high of six kills, as sophomore outside hitter Karen Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/Washington Township) and sophomore opposite Christine Toskovich (Garfield, NJ/Garfield) each finished with that total. Toskovich added two blocks, while sophomore setter Raisa Silva (Newark, NJ/Newark East-Side) tallied 20 assists and seven digs.

 

In game one, NJCU opened a 21-16 lead on a Perez kill, before MSU rallied to draw within one, 22-21. But two LIZZELLE CINTRON kills, sandwiched around two Red Hawk errors made it 26-21. LeBlanc chalked up two kills to seal the game for the Knights, 30-25.

 

NJCU held a slim 9-8 lead in the second game before uncorking a ferocious 21-3 run to rout the Hawks. Leading 12-9, NJCU scored eight consecutive points on the serve of Negron, and LIZZELLE CINTRON powered four kills for a 20-9 lead. Each Cintron sister contributed a kill for a 23-11 cushion, before MICHELLE CINTRON uncorked a wicked jump serve that results in three aces over five serves; she served the final eight points of the game as NJCU won 30-11.

 

NJCU got a scare at the end of the game when LIZZELLE CINTRON came down on the ankle of a MSU player who had come under the net, but she shook off the discomfort for another exception effort in game three. NJCU pushed a 13-12 edge to 16-12 on a LeBlanc winner and led 20-15 on another LeBlanc kill. MSU drew within three, 22-19, before two kills by junior outside hitter JENNIFER CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) and a Torres winner made it 25-19. LIZZELLE CINTRON finished off the final two points with a kill and a solo block for a 30-23 result.

 

NJCU will attempt to give Feliciano his 100^th career win to become among the fastest coaches in Division III history to reach that milestone when NJCU travels to face Baruch College on Thursday, September 20 at 5 p.m. Montclair next plays hosts Rutgers-Camden in an NJAC match that night at 7 p.m.