BOX SCORE (vs. Rivier)
BOX SCORE (vs. D'Youville)
BEVERLY, MA (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...New Jersey City University earned a historic 3-2 victory over D'Youville College after losing in four to #7 ranked Rivier College on the opening day of the Endicott College Invitational on Saturday at The Post Center. NJCU dropped a 3-1 (30-22, 30-11, 28-30, 30-19) decision against the Raiders, ranked tied for 7th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Coaches Poll, before rallying from two sets down to stun DYC, 3-2 (18-30, 22-30, 30-21, 30-28, 15-11).
After day one of the 10-team tournament, NJCU is 5-4 on the season. The Knights tied #13 SUNY New Paltz for second place in Pool C, but finished third of four teams in the pool with a 4-5 set differential won-loss mark; NP was 3-3 in sets and also finished 1-1. Rivier won the pool with a 2-0 record and 6-1 sets mark. DYC was fourth at 0-2 and 2-6 in sets.
NJCU was playing in the annual tournament which continually features some of the top talent in the North East, for the second year in a row and third time since 2005.
NJCU still leads the all-time series with Rivier, 5-3, but the Raiders defeated the Knights for the third straight meeting. However, NJCU became the first unranked Division III team to win a set from Rivier, which was the #1 ranked team in the 44-team North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) conference for most of the 2009 season.
NJCU's win over D'Youville was the first ever over the Spartans, which leads the series, 6-1. It was the first meeting since March 5, 2005. NJCU had won just one of 18 sets in the series prior to the five-set win over a program that has historically been one of the best in the NECVA. It was also the 325th victory in program history.
Rivier, which improved to 15-3 with the win, and 14-1 against NECVA opponents, hit .317 as a team with 50 kills (50-17-104) and posted 9.0 blocks.
NJCU was led by sophomore opposite AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville), who posted 12 kills and four blocks while sophomore outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) provided eight kills in the loss.
Junior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens) defended a match-high 17 digs. Junior JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) delivered 17 assists in the two-setter rotation.
Rivier, despite losing its first set to an unranked Division III foe this year, bounced back from the game three setback to win by 11 in set four to seal the match. The Raiders utilized their extreme height advantage in winning the contest.
Senior middle hitter Matt Ferreira (North Providence, RI), a 6-foot-6 Second-Team All-America and First-Team All-NECVA recipient in 2009, led the Raiders with 14 kills and four blocks. Freshman middle hitter Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, CT) tallied seven kills while 6-foot-4 junior outside hitter Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI)—Second-Team All-America and Second-Team All-NECVA last year—had six kills. Senior setter Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT), who was First-Team All-NECVA in 2009, had 31 assists and seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Andrew Paine (Quincy, MA) also had seven digs and five aces.
In match two, NJCU played its first five-set contest of the year and won for the seventh time in its last eight matches that extended the distance since late in the 2008 season.
After dropping the first two sets, the Knights bounced back from two lackluster efforts for its first ever victory against the Spartans, led by Bryant with 15 kills and Lisk with 10 winners. Edra dispersed 21 digs while Rodriguez dished 24 assists. Sophomore middle blocker DANNY KOCHANSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) rejected seven blocks in the victory.
D'Youville junior outside hitter Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, NY) posted a match-high 24 kills in defeat while freshman opposite Chris Temple (Highwood, IL) collected 19 kills and 12 digs. Rookie setter JJ Senozetnik (Eden, NY) dished 60 assists. Junior middle blocker Brett Peters (Warsaw, NY) used his 6-foot-8 frame to tally seven blocks.
On day two of the tournament, NJCU will meet Hilbert College at 11 a.m. In the final match at 1 p.m., the Knights will square off with either SUNYIT or D'Youville for a second time, based on the winner/loser of the opening contest
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