BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES
JERSEY CITY, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...New Jersey City University had not played a match in men's volleyball in nearly two weeks due to several winter storms, but in their return to the court on Monday night, the Gothic Knights were the ones freezing the opposition. NJCU posted a .313 team hitting percentage, led by sophomore middle blocker #DANNY KOCHANSKI# (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) who hit .714 with six kills and four aces in two sets as the Knights swept a non-conference contest from New York City College of Technology, 3-0 (30-10, 30-21, 30-26) on “Coach Charlie Brown Court” at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
NJCU, playing for the first time since February 3 after five matches were cancelled due to weather issues, improved to 3-3 overall. City Tech dropped its fifth straight, falling to 3-5. NJCU leads the all-time series, 5-0. It was the first meeting between the clubs in Jersey City since March 23, 2001.
Kochanski had a attack line of 6-1-7, and led NJCU's service game which uncorked 13 aces as a team. Freshman outside hitter MICHAL KUCZA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) hit .500 in two sets with a team-best eight kills (8-1-14) and only one error while freshman outside hitter JOSE MATTA (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Union Hill) equaled Kucza with eight kills (8-4-18, .222).
Freshman middle blocker CASEY BLAKE (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne), who leads the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association in hitting percentage (.578) and blocking (1.73) per set entering the match, hit .400 with six kills (6-2-10) and one block in two sets.
Junior setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) delivered 16 assists in 30 attempts for a .533 accuracy rate while senior setter FELIPE SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) had 18 assists.
Also for NJCU, freshman middle blocker DAVIS OBI (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) hit .667 with four kills and no errors (4-0-6) and two blocks (one solo) in slightly more than one set and freshman outside hitter MIKE VALENCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) hit .667 in one set with four kills (4-0-6) and two aces. Sophomore outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) had five kills and junior opposite AJ SAFAVI (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) had three blocks and three aces. NJCU was without sophomore opposite AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville), who leads the team in kills (3.06 per set).
The Yellow Jackets received match-highs of 11 kills (11-6-27, .185) and seven digs from outside hitter Johnny Santana and 17 assists from setter Danny Guzman.
NJCU hit .438 in the opening set with 11 kills (11-4-16) while limiting the Yellow Jackets to a -.444 (3-11-18) attack rate. Leading 15-9, NJCU unleashed 15 of the final 16 points of the set for the 30-10 win with Kochanski serving 10 times in a row, landing three aces.
In the second set, NJCU clubbed 15 kills and again limited the visitors to a negative hitting percentage (-.095, 4-6-21). Blake led NJCU with five kills in the set. Leading 20-17, the Knights scored six points in sequence for a 26-17 margin as Blake and Kucza each tallied two kills. Back-to-back winners by Lisk helped NJCU score the final four points to claim a 30-21 win.
NJCU's reserves primarily played the final set. While NJCU had 17 kills and hit .314 in the frame (17-6-35), the Yellow Jackets also improved, hitting .321 with 13 of the team's 20 kills during the game (13-4-28). Midway through the set, it appeared the visitors, who led 23-18 and increased the margin to 24-20 on a Santana shot, would force a fourth set. But NJCU scored 10 of the final 14 points to win. Two aces by Valencia and an Obi kill, followed by two City Tech errors, allowed NJCU to score six straight for a 26-24 lead. Santana kept his team alive with two kills, shaving the deficit to 26-25 and 27-26 before Matta slammed back-to-back kills and the Knights prevailed, 30-26.
NJCU is back in action on Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. in a non-conference match against City College of New York at the Nat Holman Gymnasium in New York, NY. City Tech visits Lehman College on Thursday, February 19 at 7 p.m.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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CITY TECH
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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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.313 (43-17-83)
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-.015 (20-21-67)
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Kills
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43
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20
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Assists
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37
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19
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Service Aces
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13
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1
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Digs
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22
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15
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Total Blocks
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5.0
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3.0
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Points
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61.0
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24.0
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