BOX SCORE
NEW YORK, NY…Yeshiva University is enjoying its best season in men's volleyball in recent memory, but still is no match for New Jersey City University. The Gothic Knights hit .385 as a team with 47 kills, and landed 11 aces, while improving to 20-0 all-time against the Maccabees—all via sweeps—courtesy of a 30-13, 30-19, 30-22 decision in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division contest on Sunday afternoon.
NJCU improves to 15-9 overall and 4-1 in the division and in just 24 matches has already exceeded its win total from last year (14-17, 31 matches). Yeshiva drops to 7-11 and 1-6 NECVA Metro. NJCU limited the Maccabees to a -.040 team attack percentage (21-25-100), marking the fifth time this season the Knights have held an opponent to a negative hitting rate.
NJCU, playing its fourth match at its fourth different venue in four days, showed no sign of fatigue, and received a career performance from freshman middle blocker CORRADO DeVINCENZO (Bayonne, NJ/County Prep). Entering the match with just 16 kills all season, he led all players with 13 kills and no errors in 21 attempts for a .619 percentage, adding three blocks. Fellow freshman middle blocker AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) chalked up a .571 percentage on nine kills (9-1-14), adding five blocks and three aces.
Sophomore opposite AJ SAFAVI (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) tallied a season-high seven kills and smacked a .500 percentage (7-2-10). Senior outside hitter KEVIN RODGERS (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) increased his career kills total to 1,195 with seven winners and one error in 14 attacks for a .429 percentage, while adding four digs and three aces. Now with 937 career digs he is six shy of fifth place in school history as he vies to become only the second 1,000-kill and 1,000 dig player at NJCU.
Also for NJCU, sophomore setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) dished 25 assists and had a stellar .532 percentage as the team slammed kills on more than half of his 47 attempts. Sophomore setter/outside hitter JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) registered his ninth career double-double with 10 assists on 18 attempts for a .588 percentage, with 10 digs and three blocks. Freshman outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) hit .444 with five kills (5-1-9).
In defeat, junior outside hitter David Kahana (Silver Spring, MD/MJBHA) and junior middle blocker Zanvy Grauman (Silver Spring, MD/Berman Hebrew) combined for 17 of Yeshiva's 21 kills. Senior setter Joseph Bajtner (Skokie, IL/Ida Crown Jewish Academy) finished with 17 assists and eight digs.
Leading early, 8-6, NJCU scored 10 of the next 13 points for an 18-9 lead. After the margin narrowed to 19-12, NJCU capped the set with an 11-1 run, winning 30-13, as the club hit .286 in the game (10-4-21).
The offense poured on in the second set as NJCU collected a .471 attack percentage behind 19 kills (19-3-34). It was competitive early, with the Knights leading 14-12 before opening a 20-13 margin behind a 6-1 spurt. Yeshiva cut it to five (20-15) before the Gothic Knight offensive attack pounded away for a 7-1 streak and a 27-16 lead, before winning 30-19.
In the final set, NJCU landed 18 kills for a .361 accuracy rate (18-5-36). NJCU was never challenged, opening up leads of 17-10, 20-12 and 26-16, before settling for a 30-22 decision.
NJCU is off until Tuesday, March 10 when it meets Bard College in a road NECVA Metro match at 7 p.m. in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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YESHIVA
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Score
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3
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0
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Attack Percentage
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.385 (47-12-81)
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-.040 (21-25-100)
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Kills
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47
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21
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Assists
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45
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21
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Service Aces
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11
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2
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Digs
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41
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28
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Total Blocks
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8.0
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3.0
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Points
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66.0
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26.0
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