BOX SCORE
JERSEY CITY, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...Sophomore opposite AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) slammed a career-best 21 kills but New Jersey City University had a team hitting percentage of .101 and had its four-match winning streak snapped, dropping a non-conference contest to Hunter College, 3-1 (30-15, 30-23, 26-30, 30-23), Sunday afternoon on “Coach Charlie Brown Court” at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
NJCU, which had also won six of its last seven games, falls to 8-5 overall while the Hawks (13-7) win their fourth straight. Hunter leads the all-time series, 13-11 but NJCU has still won six of the last eight meetings. It was NJCU's first loss in four home matches this season.
The Hawks hit .246 as a team with 60 kills (60-27-134) and were led by sophomore outside hitter Eric Barty (Jamaica, NY/Cordozo) who collected 19 kills, 11 digs, five blocks (two solo) and hit .256 (19-9-39). Junior opposite Christopher Newcomb (Waimea, Kauai, HI) tallied 13 kills and 11 digs while hitting .357 (13-3-28). Senior setter Zacarias Ripoll-Cid (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic/John F. Kennedy) distributed 49 assists and added two blocks.
Bryant, who surpassed his previous high of 19 kills set just a week ago in a win over D'Youville College, had the most kills by any Gothic Knight this year and the highest total in a four-set contest since March 16, 2003 when former head coach Christopher Feliciano had 25 kills against Polytechnic Institute of NYU as a senior outside hitter.
Bryant had a near triple-double, finishing with 21 kills (21-18-48, .062), eight blocks and seven digs. Freshman outside hitter JOSE MATTA (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Union Hill) hit .324 with 13 kills and just two errors (13-2-34), while defending 10 digs. Sophomore middle blocker DANNY KOCHANSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) collected eight kills and eight blocks.
Also for NJCU, junior setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) dished 29 assists and five digs and sophomore outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) chipped in eight kills. Senior setter FELIPE SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) had 15 assists. Junior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens), this week's NECVA Metro Division Player of the Week, had nine digs.
Hunter also received nine kills (9-3-18), a .333 percentage and seven blocks from 6-foot-7 freshman middle blocker Jeremy Grubler (Bayside, NY/Bayside). Freshman middle blocker Braien Otsla (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) tallied 10 digs and nine kills. Freshman John Gemegah (Jackson Heights, NY/Aviation) ended with seven kills (7-3-14, .286) and two blocks.
In the opening set, it was all Hunter as the Hawks hit .280 and limited NJCU to a negative attack percentage of -.188 with eight kills and 14 errors. The Hawks broke open a 12-9 set by scoring eight straight points behind the serving of Newcomb and Barty, the current NECVA CUNYAC Division Player of the Week, had a pair of kills. The Knights had four attack errors as Hunter grabbed a 20-9 margin before winning 30-15. Barty had six kills in the set.
Matta came alive for NJCU in game two, hitting .583 with seven kills (7-0-12), but Newcomb countered with five winners and a .444 attack clip for the Hawks (5-1-9). The Knights had 15 kills in the set but Hunter claimed a 21-14 lead and held off a late NJCU rally. The Knights were within four, 17-13 in the set, before Newcomb provided three kills for a 20-14 cushion. Two kills by Bryant and winners from Lisk and Kochanski cut the deficit to 23-20 before a winner from Grubler, followed by a combo block by Barty and Grubler extended the lead to 25-20. Otsla and Ripoll tallied kills before the Hawks claimed the set, 30-23.
With the starters remaining on the floor for both teams, NJCU never trailed in the third set, hitting a sizzling .412 with 18 kills (18-4-34), to overcome 17 winners by the Hawks. Bryant took charge for the hosts, registering nine kills and a .500 percentage (9-2-14). Leading 15-14, Bryant and Kochanski combined for two straight blocks and a 17-14 lead. Barty had two shots, cutting it to 18-16, before Bryant chalked up kills for leads of 22-18 and 23-19. Three straight Gothic Knight attack errors allowed the visitors to draw within one, 23-22 before Bryant and Lisk registered kills coming out of a timeout, for a 25-23 margin. Gemegah shaved it to 26-25 with a winner before Bryant answered with one of his own, and Matta forced a fourth set with two kills in a row, as NJCU claimed a 30-26 win.
In a back-and-forth fourth set there were four lead changes and four ties, but Hunter notched 18 kills and hit .256 to claim the match. Gemegah hit .833 in the set with five kills in six swings and Newcomb hit .500 with five winners. Bryant had six of NJCU's 11 kills in the set. Midway through the set, Bryant and freshman middle blocker CASEY BLAKE (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) combined on a stuff of Barty as NJCU trailed 15-13 but Barty and Grubler responded with two winners for a 17-13 edge. After NJCU cut it to two (19-17), Gemegah had two winners and Newcomb added another for a 22-17 lead and the Knights were unable to draw closer than 25-21. Hunter scored its final four points on Gothic Knight errors, before prevailing 30-23.
NJCU returns to action on Saturday, March 6 at 2 p.m. when it hosts #9 ranked Vassar College in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division match. Hunter next takes the court on March 2 at 7 p.m. at City College of New York.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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HUNTER
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Score
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1
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3
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Attack Percentage
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.101 (52-37-148)
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.246 (60-27-134)
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Kills
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52
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60
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Assists
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51
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59
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Service Aces
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1
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2
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Digs
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40
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49
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Total Blocks
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10.5
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9.0
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Points
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63.5
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71.0
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