New Jersey City University Athletics

BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ…On senior night at New Jersey City University, the Gothic Knights gave #6 ranked Stevens Institute of Technology all it could handle through the first two sets before the Ducks finished off a 30-24, 30-25, 30-21 sweep of NJCU in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division match on Monday night on Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

 

In what was the regular season finale for NJCU, it fell to 20-14 overall and 5-4 in the NECVA Metro Division. The Knights will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NECVA Tournament on April 3. If not, they will likely qualify for the ECAC Division III South Tournament.

 

Stevens, ranked #6 in the Bison/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, improved to 17-6 overall and 6-1 in the NECVA Metro Division and defeated NJCU for the 23^rd consecutive time dating to February 1998—and recorded the 13^th straight 3-0 margin. The Ducks lead the all-time series, 25-14.

 

Before the match, NJCU honored senior outside hitter KEVIN RODGERS (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) and senior opposite THIAGO SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) as the four-year starters and two-year co-captains played in their final career home matches.

 

Stevens hit .379 as a team with 54 kills (54-15-103) while NJCU performed well in defeat with 38 kills and a .171 percentage (38-20-105).

 

In defeat, NJCU received a match high 15 kills and a .323 hitting line (15-5-31) from sophomore outside hitter MARLEY PENA-GUZMAN (Atlanta, GA/Central Gwinnett (GA)). Meanwhile, Rodgers provided six kills, five digs and two blocks. Now with 1,266 career kills—second in school history—he moved into third place in program history in digs with 1,007, and is one of only two players in school history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

 

The Ducks had three players in double figures in kills, led by senior outside hitter Joe Trinsey (Wilmington, DE/Charter School of Wilmington) with 14 kills, six digs and a .440 hitting percentage (14-3-25).

 

Senior middle hitter Andrew Cranford (Bel Air, MD/John Carroll) demonstrated why he has a staggering margin over the rest of the country in hitting percentage. He entered with a .504 percentage for the year and hit .500 in the contest with 12 kills and only two errors (12-2-20) with three blocks.

 

Senior outside hitter Tomas Bochicchio (Saint James, NY/Smithtown) finished with 11 kills, a .375 attack rate (11-2-24), seven digs and three blocks. Sophomore setter Brandt Grobeis (Livingston, NJ/Livingston) had 34 assists while sophomore setter Aaron Ostrovsky (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) had 15 assists in his lone set of action.

 

For NJCU, sophomore setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) tallied 34 assists. Freshmen middle blockers DANNY KOCHANSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) had six kills, Siqueira finished with five kills to increase his career total to 851, and freshman AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) had four kills and two blocks.

 

Set one was competitive as Stevens hit .317 with 21 kills (21-8-41) and NJCU hit .257 (13-4-35). Leading 11-10, the Ducks went on a 7-1 run to take an 18-11 lead. Two kills by Kochanski helped NJCU score four of the next five points to trim the deficit to three (19-16). A kill by Pena kept the margin at three (22-19) before the Ducks outscored NJCU 6-2 and built a 28-21 margin, aided by a pair of Trinsey shots, before Trinsey sealed the set with another kill.

 

The Ducks hit .367 in set two (16-5-30) but never had a margin of more that six. When Cranford made a rare attack error, NJCU's deficit stood at three, and Rodgers and Cranford traded kills for a 25-22 score. But a kill by Grobeis, followed by a combo block by Bochicchio and senior middle hitter Wes Eberlin (Honolulu, HI/Iolani) made it 27-22. Eberlin added a kill before Cranford followed with a winner that gave the Ducks a 30-25 win.

 

In the final set, Stevens had an impressive hitting line of .469 (17-2-32) and broke open a 15-12 contest with four straight points, including kills by Trinsey and Bochicchio for a 19-12 cushion. Stevens would expand the lead to 24-14. Back-to-back kills by Bochicchio, followed by a Bochicchio block gave Stevens a 30-21 win and the sweep.

 

While NJCU will wait for word of its post-season life, Stevens returns to action on Tuesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. when it hosts Yeshiva University in a NECVA Metro Division match in Hoboken.