RIVERDALE, NY…New Jersey City University scored four of the final five points in game four to force a decisive fifth game but The College of Mount Saint Vincent hung on and handed the Gothic Knights a 3-2 (21-30, 30-28, 30-22, 27-30, 15-13) setback in a critical North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division match on Wednesday night.
The loss snapped NJCU’s three-match winning streak as the Knights fell to 10-8 overall and 4-2 in the division. CMSV (7-12, 5-4 Metro) ended a four-match losing streak and even with 13 matches remaining in the regular season, likely put a dent in the Knights’ armor, as NJCU attempts to qualify for the NECVA Tournament for a third straight season and the ECAC Tournament for the fourth year in a row.
The loss also snapped NJCU’s five-match winning streak against the Dolphins. NJCU leads the all-time series, 20-19.
In defeat, freshman outside hitter
MARLEY PENA-GUZMAN (Atlanta, GA/Central Gwinnett (GA)) notched a match-high 21 kills and hit .317 (21-8-41) with seven digs, as he recorded 20 kills in a match for the second time this season. Freshman outside hitter
CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) netted his sixth double-double of the season while matching his career-high with 19 kills (19-11-43, .186), adding 13 digs and three blocks.
Rookie setter
JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) delivered a career-high 64 assists and added 15 digs for his fourth double-double, as NJCU hit .205 as a team with 73 kills (73-37-176).
Junior opposite
THIAGO SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) added his seventh double-double of the season and 19
th of his career with 16 kills (16-5-33), a .333 percentage, and 11 digs. Junior middle hitter
KEVIN RODGERS (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) had his 23
rd career double-double and sixth of the year with a team-high 16 digs, 11 kills (11-7-39) and six blocks. Sophomore libero
FELIPE SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) tallied 13 digs.
Senior outside hitter Arnold Ross (Wilton, ME/Mount Blue) equaled Pena with a match-high 21 kills (21-11-53, .189), adding 12 digs, and junior outside hitter T.J. Pufahl (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) landed 18 kills (18-12-54), with 12 digs and four aces. Freshman middle blocker John Furka (Bronx, NY/Cardinal Spellman) collected a .364 percentage with 15 kills (15-3-33) and three blocks.
The Dolphins received 31 assists from freshman setter Mike Quinn (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) and 26 assists from junior setter Chris Dotoratos (Bronx, NY/Salesian) as the tandem each had three blocks and combined for 14 digs. Junior libero Phil Anselmo (Bronx, NY/Cardinal Spellman) defended 13 digs.
With NJCU leading 18-16 in game one, the Knights took advantage of seven CMSV attack errors and scored 12 of the final 17 points, en route to a 30-21 win, before the Dolphins won the next two games for a 2-1 match lead.
There were 11 ties and four lead changes in game two, including 19-19, before CMSV used an 8-2 run to seize a 27-21 lead, aided by four kills from
Pufahl. The Knights battled all the way back with a 7-2 spurt to close within 29-28, with kills sprinkled in by
Pena,
Rodgers and
THIAGO SIQUEIRA, before
Furka won it with a kill. There were three ties in the third game, but the Dolphins never trailed and won 30-22.
In a fourth game with nine ties and five lead changes, including 26-26, Edra buried back-to-back kills for a 28-26 margin, and forced a fifth game with a winner on game point.
In that fifth game, the teams were even at 3-3 before the Dolphins uncorked an 8-2 outburst for an 11-5 advantage, as Ross tallied three kills and Furka two more during the streak. Two attack errors by Pufahl allowed NJCU to close with 13-12, and with CMSV leading 14-12, Edra smacked a kill to make it 14-13, before NJCU committed an attack error on match point as the Dolphins prevailed, 15-13.
NJCU will next compete in a two-day, four-match event at Villa Julie College in Stevenson, MD. There, NJCU will face Villa Julie for the third time this season and NAIA opponent King College on Friday, February 29. On Saturday, March 1, the Knights square off against Hilbert College before wrapping up the weekend against nationally #11 ranked Philadelphia Biblical University.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
