BOX SCORE
JERSEY CITY, NJ…Sophomore setter #
ALEX JOHANESEN# (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) celebrated being named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week by serving four consecutive aces to open the match while leading the Gothic Knights to their 13
th consecutive regular season conference victory, as NJCU swept William Paterson University, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-22), Tuesday evening at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. It was NJCU's first home NJAC match of the year.
NJCU (5-4, 2-0 NJAC) wins its third match in a row and for the fifth time in six outings to eclipse the .500 mark for the first time this year. It was NJCU's eighth consecutive win over the Pioneers since 2004. WPU, which opened this season at 7-0, falls to 8-2 overall and 0-2 NJAC. The Pioneers still lead the all-time series, 31-12.
Johanesen served five of NJCU's 14 aces—with all of her tallies coming in the opening set—while supplying 31 assists to an offense that collected 37 kills overall. She added seven digs.
Senior outside hitter
JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) registered her 30
th career double-double with a match-high 12 kills (12-4-39), a .205 percentage, 13 digs and two aces.
Sophomore opposite
THERESA CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) had all four of her aces in a late run in the third set.
Junior middle blocker
JENNIFER HATCH (Paterson, NJ/Mary Help of Christians Academy) had another well-rounded effort with seven kills (7-5-19, .105) and five blocks (two solo). Senior outside hitter
JENNIFER CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) had nine kills (9-4-25, .200) and senior middle blocker
SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science) added eight kills and a .267 attack rate (8-4-15).
Senior libero
LYANELLY NEGRON (Union, NJ/Union) defended a match-high 17 digs. Junior outside hitter
MELISSA LOO (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford) chipped in two aces.
The Carvalho sisters combined to provide seven points disguised as aces and kills as NJCU, which trailed 21-15 in the third set, rallied to close the match on a 10-1 run.
For WPU, junior middle hitter Kelly Helfrich (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) had the high kill mark with six (6-5-22, .045), adding 12 digs and two blocks. Freshman setter/outside hitter Megan Maher (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge) had 11 assists. Sophomore opposite Michelle Leeder (Ridgefield, NJ/Ridgefield Memorial) hit .333 with five kills (5-1-12). Junior libero Amanda Mitchell (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) finished with 15 digs. Junior opposite Samantha Reed (Dumont, NJ/Dumont) tallied 12 digs and four kills.
NJCU never trailed in the opening set, hitting .229 with 12 kills and seven team aces. NJCU surged to an 8-1 lead behind Johanesen's serving. The Pioneers were only able to pull within four, 13-9, before a pair of LeBlanc kills extended the cushion to 15-9 and a third made it 16-10. She added another winner at the end of a 6-0 run for a 21-10 lead as the Knights cruised to victory.
WPU's only lead in the second set was the first two points. With 13 kills in the frame, including five from LeBlanc, NJCU turned an 11-10 contest into a 21-14 advantage. Three attack errors by the Knights kept it close, and a kill from Reed cut the visitor's deficit to 21-20. But after a Pioneer service error, Torres landed a kill for 23-20, and LeBlanc sealed the set with another kill.
The third set was back-and fourth early. With the frame tied 7-7,
LeBlanc and
Torres had two killsand freshman defensive specialist
KIARA MARTINEZ (Newark, NJ/East Side) landed another ace between their shots, for a 13-9 edge. The lead stood at 14-10 before three straight attack errors by the Knights and a kill from
Maher gave WPU its first lead, 15-14. NJCU tied it at 15-15 before the Pioneers scored six consecutive points—the final three on a
Maher ace and kills from
Helfrich and
Leeder—for a 21-16 advantage.
From there, the
Carvalho sisters took over.
Jen Carvalho provided a kill for sideout. Her younger sister
THERESA CARVALHO then served the next nine times. Her first ace made it 21-17 and
Jen Carvalho landed a kill for 21-19. After a WPU timeout,
THERESA CARVALHO fired two more aces to tie it at 21-21. WPU made an attack error to put the Knights in front to stay, before
Jen Carvalho struck for another winner and
THERESA CARVALHO floored her fourth ace for a 24-21 cushion.
Torres cut a kill for match point, 25-22.
NJCU and Montclair State University will meet in a rematch of the 2007 NJAC Championship match on Thursday, September 25 at 7 p.m. in Montclair, NJ. WPU hosts Kean University in an NJAC match at the same time.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
