MAHWAH, NJ…Senior middle blocker
LIZZELLE CINTRON (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) blasted 29 kills to move into 11
th place in Division I, II and III history with 2,609, and added 13 digs and nine blocks for her 96
th career double-double, to spark
New Jersey City University to a 3-1 (31-29, 23-30, 30-21, 30-16) victory over Ramapo College on Tuesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match at the Bill Bradley Center.
NJCU improves to 13-4 overall and 3-0 in the NJAC with the win. Ramapo drops to 7-3 and 0-2 NJAC. Ramapo leads the all-time series, 17-16, but NJCU has won the last seven meetings between the schools since 2000.
Overall, Cintron hit .321 with 29 kills in 53 attempts (29-12-53), 13 digs, nine blocks (seven assisted) and three aces. She had more than half of her team’s 56 kills. She recorded her 200th career ace and 300th career block assist, as she closes in on 600 career total blocks. In addition to her 96th double-double, the 29 kills represented the 32nd time in her career and the fifth time this season that Cintron has tallied 25 or more kills in a single match.
On the NCAA’s all-time career kills, list she moved into 11th place in her 446th game by passing the University of Hawaii’s Kim Willoughby, who had 2,598 kills (439 games) from 2000-03. Next on the list in 10th place is University of Georgia’s Priscilla Pacheco (2,675 kills, 480 games, 1991-94) and Division II Northwood (MI)’s Pavla Melicharova with 2,676 kills (448 games, 1993-96) in ninth.
Junior outside hitter
JENNIFER CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) was the other NJCU player in double figures in kills, finishing with a season-high 11 kills (11-5-34, .176), four aces and three blocks. Sophomore outside hitter
MICHELLE CINTRON (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) and junior opposite
SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science) each had seven kills.
Freshman setter
ALEX JOHANESEN (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) delivered 28 assists while senior setter
NADIA DaSILVA DUCOS (Newark, NJ/Science) had 22 assists to bring her school record career assists total to 2,447.
In a match where NJCU notched 17 total service aces, sophomore
KAREN RAMIREZ (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) landed seven, and served 35 total attempts. Senior libero
GLORINELL PEREZ (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) and junior defensive specialist
LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) each had 10 digs;
Negron added three aces.
Ramapo received a team-high 16 kills (16-11-40) from sophomore outside hitter Maureen Hennecke (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) and 34 assists from senior setter Ashley Cornett (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne).
NJCU fell behind 29-23 in game one, but rallied to score the final eight points of the game—seven behind the serving of Ramirez—and Cintron had three kills and two blocks during the late tear After Ramapo won the second game, 30-23, game three was tied 19-19. But NJCU uncorked an 11-2 run to close the game for a 30-21 win, as Cintron had three kills and Torres two, along with aces by Negron, Ramirez and Carvalho. The Knights led 19-15 in the fourth game before exploding for an 11-1 run to close the match.
NJCU returns to action on Thursday, September 25 at 7 p.m. when it will look to extend its home court winning streak to 35 consecutive matches against John Jay College.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
