New Jersey City University Athletics

BOX SCORE

MONTCLAIR, NJ…For the New Jersey City University women's volleyball team, it was worth the wait. In a rematch of the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference championship match, won by Montclair State University, NJCU extended its regular season conference winning streak to 14 consecutive matches by sweeping the Red Hawks, the 2008 preseason NJAC favorites, 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-12) in just 76 minutes, in front of 398 fans at the MSU Student Recreation Center.

NJCU (6-4, 3-0 NJAC), joins Ramapo College and Richard Stockton College as the lone unbeaten teams in league play. The Gothic Knights won their fourth straight match and for the sixth time in seven outings. MSU (9-6, 2-1 NJAC) saw its two-match winning streak end. 

Montclair had received seven of nine first place votes in the preseason conference poll, while the Knights were ranked fourth—despite reaching the NJAC finals in three consecutive years, winning two regular season titles along the way. NJCU has won six of the last seven meetings against the Red Hawks. MSU still leads the all-time series, 17-8.

“Winning in three, in their gym, was a great feeling,” said fifth-year head coach CHRISTOPHER FELICIANO, the 2007 NJAC Coach of the Year. “After losing to them in the conference finals last year, it left a bad taste in their [the players] mouths. You never forget something like that. These women wanted to come out and show that despite being a different team than last year, they are still a team that can compete for a conference title.”

NJCU reached double digits in kills in every game, with 13 in the first two sets. In the final set, the Knights were even more precise, hitting .412 with 10 kills (10-3-17).

Sophomore setter #ALEX JOHANESEN# (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan), this week's NJAC Player of the Week, guided the club to a sensational .267 hitting percentage and 36 kills (36-13-86), distributing 29 assists. 

Meanwhile, NJCU's two four-year players with All-Conference experience led the way on offense. Senior middle blocker SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science), a Second-Team All-NJAC pick last year, smacked 10 kills and hit .333 (10-4-18) with two aces and two blocks, while senior outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), a two-time NJAC Player of the Week this season, added 10 kills (10-3-30), five digs and hit .233.  LeBlanc recorded her 1200^th kill in the match.

Senior outside hitter JENNIFER CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) continued to contribute in important ways, collecting a .353 attack rate with seven kills and only one error (7-1-17), adding six digs. Junior middle blocker JENNIFER HATCH (Paterson, NJ/Mary Help of Christians Academy) chipped in six kills and a solo block.Sophomore opposite THERESA CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) floored three more aces.

Meanwhile, MSU was limited to a .057 attack percentage. In defeat, sophomore outside hitter Devon Johnston (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) tallied 10 kills (10-3-25) and hit .280. Junior outside hitter Karen Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/Washington Township) had seven kills (7-3-16, .250) and nine digs. Sophomore setter Kristen Ruggieri (Hillsdale, NJ/Pascack Valley) chipped in 24 assists. Junior libero Meghan Stevens (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) had nine digs.

In set one there were eight ties and three lead changes. NJCU led 20-18 on a Hatch kill, before the Hawks scored three straight to gain their first lead since early in the frame, 21-20. LeBlanc floored a kill then stepped back to land an ace, giving the Knights a 22-21 lead. An NJCU error evened it at 22-22, before Carvalho had a kill and an MSU miscue made it 24-22. Back-to-back kills by Johnston evened the score at 24-24, but Carvalho slammed a winner for 25-24 and Torres sealed the set with another kill.

While there were seven ties and three lead chances in the second set, NJCU reeled off an 11-4 run to easily win the period, 25-18. With the Knights ahead 16-15, Torres had a kill, MSU committed two errors, and THERESA CARVALHO served an ace for a 20-15 cushion. Torres added another kill and an ace for a 23-18 margin, before Hatch clinched the set with a winner.

Set three was all NJCU. The Knights scored the first five points of the frame, highlighted by two LeBlanc kills, and four straight errors by the Hawks allowed the lead to swell to 9-1. Another ace by THERESA CARVALHO extended the lead to 12-3, before the Knights won the set by 13 points.

“Tonight was a great victory for many reasons,” Feliciano added. “Early this season, the team had been missing that winning drive that is necessary to perform at a top level. And anytime you lose top seniors to graduation, sometimes it takes a program a long time to recover and adjust. From the moment they got on the bus today, they knew it was their time to continue performing at the elite caliber they have the last four seasons.  While there is still a lot of work to do, I'm excited to see where this season will take us.”

NJCU is back in action on Saturday, September 27 when it plays two non-conference matches at John Jay College. The Knights face host John Jay at 11 a.m. followed by Old Westbury College at 1 p.m.