BOX SCORE
BRONX, NY (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...New Jersey City University opened its 21st season of men's volleyball by posting a combined 11.0 team blocks and a .352 collective hitting percentage, as sophomore opposite AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) and rookie middle blocker CASEY BLAKE (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) each had nine kills and combined for seven blocks as NJCU romped past Lehman College, 3-0 (30-13, 30-12, 31-29) on Thursday night at the APEX Center.
Both teams were playing their season openers as NJCU (1-0) improved to 16-13 all-time against the Lightning (0-1). NJCU hit .352 behind 43 kills and only 12 kills on 88 attack attempts. Lehman was held to a negative percentage of -.023 with 23 kills, 25 errors and 88 attempts.
Blake had a perfect debut—literally. He had nine kills on nine attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage. He added four assisted blocks.Bryant, who played in the middle last year, hit .692 in his first collegiate match as an opposite, finishing with nine kills and no errors on 13 attempts, while delivering six digs and three blocks (two solo).
Sophomore middle blocker DANNY KOCHANSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) finished with seven kills (7-4-14, .214) and four blocks (three assisted). Sophomore outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) collected six kills (6-2-18, .222), five digs and two blocks.
Both setters had solid debuts as junior JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) finished with match highs of 15 assists and five service aces and senior FELIPE SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) contributed 14 assists and three assisted blocks. Junior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) defended seven digs while freshman outside hitter MICHAL KUCZA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) hit .333 with four kills (4-1-9), four digs and two blocks.
Lehman received 10 kills (10-10-37) and 11 digs from junior Nate Martin (Carleton, MI) and 11 assists from sophomore Rafael Abreu (Bronx, NY).
NJCU was never challenged in the opening set, exploding out to a 26-9 lead as the Knights hit .688 as a team—12 kills, one error and 16 attacks. Rodriguez had four of his five aces in the frame.
With the second set tied at 6-6, NJCU scored 14 of the next 17 points for a 20-9 margin. Leading 20-10, the Knights then went on a 10-2 spurt to conclude the set, as the visitors put together what proved to be a 24-6 final streak to win the game easily. NJCU hit .346 (13-4-26) while forcing the Lightning into 12 errors (4-12-34) and a -.235 attack rate.
The third set was a mixture of NJCU starters and reserves. An ace by Blake gave NJCU a 19-14 lead. Lehman would rally to tie it at 23-23 before a kill by Martin gave the hosts a 24-23 margin. Lehman increased the lead to 26-24 after consecutive errors by NJCU's reserves. NJCU rallied to score five consecutive points. After tying it at 26-26, Blake buried back-to-back winners for a 28-26 edge and a Lehman attack error gave NJCU match point, leading 29-26. A kill by junior opposite RJ LeBlanc (South Rockwood, MI), an NJCU attack error and an ace by Lehman freshman Valon Lajci (Bronx, NY) forced a 29-29 tie. But NJCU clinched the win as Blake and Lisk slammed kills to the floor, as the Knights concluded the 3-0 sweep.
The next test for NJCU comes on Tuesday, January 26 at 7 p.m. when the Knights travel to New York, NY to meet #11 ranked Baruch College in another non-conference match to begin the season.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
|
Team Stat Comparison
|
|
|
NJCU
|
LEHMAN
|
|
Score
|
3
|
0
|
|
Attack Percentage
|
.352 (43-12-88)
|
-.023 (23-25-88)
|
|
Kills
|
43
|
23
|
|
Assists
|
31
|
14
|
|
Service Aces
|
11
|
4
|
|
Digs
|
34
|
27
|
|
Total Blocks
|
11.0
|
1.0
|
|
Points
|
65.0
|
28.0
|
