BOX SCORE
NEW PALTZ, NY (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...Sophomore DANNY KOCHANSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) equaled a match-high with 15 kills and posted a .524 hitting percentage but SUNY New Paltz, featuring one of the tallest all-around starting lineups in Division III, used that advantage to hit .350 overall as a team and defeated New Jersey City University, 3-1 (30-20, 30-22, 24-30, 30-26) in the 2010 North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division opener for both schools, Friday night at the Hawk Center.
New Paltz, which received three of a possible 10 first-place votes in the NECVA Metro preseason poll, improved to 3-4 overall, 1-0 in the league. NJCU drops to 2-2, 0-1 Metro. NP has won the last 10 meetings between the divisional opponents, and leads the all-time series, 15-2.
The Gothic Knights had posted double figures in blocks in each of their first three matches of the season, and against a roster of New Paltz' size, still managed 6.0 blocks in defeat.
Kochanski had a line of 15-4-21 with a .524 attack percentage while sophomore opposite AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) collected 11 kills (11-8-29, .103), eight digs and three blocks, and freshman outside hitter MICHAL KUCZA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) tallied 11 kills (11-6-24, .208) and two aces. Freshman outside hitter JOSE MATTA (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Union Hill) contributed eight kills and three aces. NJCU's four kill leaders accounted for 45 of NJCU's 50 kills.
Also for NJCU, junior setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) provided 34 assists in 67 attempts for a .507 success rate and senior setter FELIPE SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) had 13 assists. Junior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) defended eight digs and was key on serve receive, with only one reception error in 36 attempts.
New Paltz was led by the play of 6-foot-8 sophomore middle hitter Kevin Stross (Port Washington, NY), who uncorked a .667 hitting percentage, matching Bryant with 15 kills while making just one error in 21 attacks. He registered four blocks. Senior 6-foot-6 opposite Jake Moore (Cortland, Manor, NY) hit .421 with 11 kills (11-3-19), three blocks and two aces.
Senior outside hitter Daniel Liberto (Rush, NY) collected 13 kills (13-5-31, .258) and three blocks, while junior 6-foot-7 middle blocker Jonathan Van Dyke (Hopewell Junction, NY) had seven kills and five blocks (three solo). Junior setter Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, NY) dished 50 assists and three aces.
Also for the Hawks, freshman outside hitter Sean Foley (Thousand Oaks, CA) had 14 kills and a .375 percentage (14-5-24) with nine digs. Senior libero Michael Fink (Rochester, NY) had a match-best 11 digs. Sophomore setter Frank Ciccone (Long Beach, NY) totaled 11 assists.
If you liked offense, the first set was for you. New Paltz banged 19 kills off the floor and made just four errors for a .441 percentage, while NJCU notched 14 of its 20 points on kills. New Paltz led 19-2 before back-to-back kills by Kochanski and a Bryant winner, and a later Kochanski shot, cut the deficit to 21-17. Another kill by Bryant made it a three-point contest, 22-19. But New Paltz spread the ball around offensively and scored eight of the final nine points to take a 30-20 set win.
In the second set, NP hit .343 with 17 kills. NJCU cut a 19-11 lead to 20-15. But a kill and ace by Foley, followed by two Van Tyne winners extended the lead to 24-15 and the Hawks won the frame by eight.
NJCU had its best hitting line in set three, with 14 kills for a .296 percentage and never trailed. A pair of kills by Kucza put the margin at seven, 17-10, and the lead swelled to 19-12, before the Hawks scored four straight to draw within three, 19-12. But Kochanski took over offensively to create separation. His kills gave NJCU leads of 24-17, 25-18 and 26-19. Liberto had two winners to cut the edge to 27-23, but Bryant and Kucza followed with kills before a solo block by freshman middle blocker DAVIS OBI (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) extended the match to a fourth set.
The fourth set remained tight much of the way early, but the Hawks hit .520 as a team (17-4-25) and NJCU committed 11 attack errors. After a Kochanski kill tied it at 14-14, NP scored nine of the next 12 points to gain a 23-17 advantage. The Knights cut the deficit to three on three occasions, including 27-24 and 28-25 before Stross had a kill to clinch the win for the Hawks.
NJCU is back in action on Tuesday, February 2 at 7 p.m. when it hosts SUNY Purchase in a non-conference match at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on “Coach Charlie Brown Court.”
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
|
Team Stat Comparison
|
|
|
NJCU
|
NEW PALTZ
|
|
Score
|
1
|
3
|
|
Attack Percentage
|
.175 (50-29-120)
|
.350 (64-21-123)
|
|
Kills
|
50
|
64
|
|
Assists
|
49
|
63
|
|
Service Aces
|
8
|
7
|
|
Digs
|
33
|
39
|
|
Total Blocks
|
6.0
|
9.0
|
|
Points
|
64.0
|
80.0
|
