New Jersey City University Athletics

BOX SCORE

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University extended its regular season New Jersey Athletic Conference winning streak to 15 consecutive matches and won its seventh straight contest this season by sweeping Kean University, 25-12, 25-18, 25-11, Tuesday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. NJCU reached double figures in aces for the third straight match, finishing with 12—the seventh time this year the Gothic Knights have floored 10 or more aces.

With the victory, NJCU improved to 9-4 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the NJAC, tied for first place in the league with Richard Stockton College. Kean fell to 5-7 overall and 0-3 in the NJAC. The Gothic Knights have won nine of their last 10 matches. Kean leads the all-time series, 27-6, but NJCU has won five of the last six meetings.

It was NJCU's third straight match that was decided in fewer than 60 minutes, with the Knights prevailing in 56 minutes.

On a night where NJCU collected a team hitting percentage of .304 with 29 kills (29-8-69) behind a balanced attack, senior middle blocker SARAH TORRES (Elizabeth, NJ/Science) led the way with a .700 hitting rate, with seven kills and no errors on 10 attempts, adding two blocks.

Sophomore setter #ALEX JOHANESEN# (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) continued to pace the offense with 27 assists and four more service aces. She ran her streak of consecutive matches with at least one ace to 17, and now has three or more aces in 8-of-13 outings this year. NJCU tallied a kill on 43.5 percent of her sets.

Senior outside hitter JACQUELINE LeBLANC (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) amassed six kills (6-2-17, .235), 11 digs and three aces. Senior outside hitter JENNIFER CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) came out at the start of set three, yet still had six kills (6-4-17, .118).

Junior middle blocker JENNIFER HATCH (Paterson, NJ/Mary Help of Christians Academy) chipped in five kills and hit .364 with one error (5-1-11). Sophomore opposite THERESA CARVALHO (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) floored two aces, five digs and three kills (3-1-7, .286).

Kean freshman outside hitter Jamie Sacco (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) had seven kills (7-7-18, .000) and nine digs while sophomore middle blocker Ivana Kapetanovic (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) hit .231 with six kills (6-3-13) and two blocks. The Cougars also received 18 assists from freshman setter Yesenia Velasquez (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) and 11 digs from freshman libero Mary Aldana (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy).

In the opening set, Kean jumped out to a 3-0 lead before NJCU uncorked a 14-1 run to seize a 14-4 cushion and never looked back, winning by 13. The Knights made good use of their serving, with LeBlanc serving eight straight, and later freshman defensive specialist KIARA MARTINEZ (Newark, NJ/East Side), who finished with two aces, serving six in sequence. LeBlanc had three aces during the 14-1 run, and Hatch buried two kills. The Knights had a .333 percentage as a team in the set, with nine kills.

The second set was tight, and although NJCU trailed just once, it was 13-11 before the Knights scored three points on kills by Torres. A kill by Sacco and an NJCU error closed the gap to 18-16, before the Knights scored the next five points, opening a 23-16 cushion before prevailing by eight. LeBlanc had two winners and a Johanesen ace during the late spurt. Despite the close contest, NJCU had 14 kills (14-4-27) and hit .370 during the set.

In the third set, NJCU surged ahead to a 16-6 cushion and never looked back, winning by 14 points, despite its lowest hitting percentage (.190) of the three sets.

NJCU will be inactive for a week until it visits Stockton in Pomona, NJ on Tuesday, October 7 at 7 p.m. with sole possession of first place in the conference and the inside track at the league's regular season title at stake. Kean plays on October 3 against Arcadia University in the DeSales University Tournament.