New Jersey City University Athletics

BOX SCORE

GLASSBORO, NJ…Rowan University had two players reach double figures in kills while hitting .254 as a team, and despite a match-high 14 kills and a .429 hitting percentage from New Jersey City University senior middle blocker SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science), the Profs defeated the Gothic Knights, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23), in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Esby Gymnasium.

Fourth-seeded Rowan (16-17), which also defeated NJCU in the regular season on October 16, 3-1, advances to the semifinals of the six-team tournament and will meet top-seeded Richard Stockton College on November 6. The Gothic Knights fall to 14-11, and have their streak of consecutive seasons in the conference finals snapped at three. Rowan leads the all-time series, 21-3.

NJCU will await word of a possible bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Tournament, or will have its 26^th season end. In 15 appearances in the NJAC Tournament, NJCU falls to 6-19.

Junior middle blocker Chelsea Bowman (Penns Grove, NJ/Salem County Christian Academy) led Rowan with 14 kills and only two errors (14-2-29), hitting .414.

Torres had 14 kills and only two errors in 28 attacks for NJCU, posting a .429 percentage while increasing her career kills total to 961.

Also for Rowan in the victory, senior outside hitter Alexis Louie (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) had 13 kills (13-4-33) for a .273 percentage adding eight digs. Senior middle blocker Theresa Pecoraro (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) added nine kills and only two errors (9-2-25) for a .280 clip, adding five digs and two aces. Bowman, Louie, and Pecoraro combined for 36 of Rowan's 43 kills.

The Profs received a double-double of 34 assists and 12 digs from junior setter Chrissy McKay (Paramus, NJ/Paramus). Junior outside hitter KAREN RAMIREZ (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) had 21 digs, five kills and two aces and sophomore libero Casey Roselle (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) defended 13 digs.

NJCU sophomore setter #ALEX JOHANESEN# (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) posted 32 assists and eight digs. Senior outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) recorded nine digs and eight kills, giving her 1,352 career kills. Senior libero LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) passed a match-best 24 digs.

Junior middle blocker JENNIFER HATCH (Paterson, NJ/Mary Help of Christians Academy) hit .250 with six kills (6-1-20) while senior outside hitter JENNIFER CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) defended 10 digs and added six kills.

In the opening set, Rowan opened a six-point, 18-12 lead before Torres and LeBlanc combined for six kills, to cut the deficit to just one, 22-21. But an ace by McKay, an NJCU attack error and a winner by Pecoraro gave the Profs the final three points for a 25-21 margin.

Tied 9-9 in the second game, Pecoraro had a kill and NJCU committed three errors. An ace by Louie made it 14-11, and the Profs did not trail again. Back-to-back kills by Louie made it 22-14. She added consecutive kills again for a 24-16 lead before Pecoraro floored another kill to close the set.

In the third frame, Rowan led by as many as six, 13-7. In a close game midway, Torres gave NJCU its first lead since early in the set with back-to-back kills for an 18-17 lead. But Bowman answered with two kills for a 19-18 lead and Ramirez chipped in an ace and the Profs did not trail again. Kills by Pecoraro and Louie extended the lead to 23-20. NJCU rallied to tie it at 23-23 after a Rowan service error and a winner from Carvalho, before Ramirez and Bowman accounted for the final two points, 25-23.