BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES
JERSEY CITY, NJ (www.NJCUGothicKnights.com)...Sophomore opposite AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville) unleashed a career-high 24 kills while junior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) posted the most digs by a New Jersey City University player in a decade, defending a career-best 28, as the Gothic Knights claimed a 3-1 (30-25, 30-20, 28-30, 32-30) non-conference victory over Lehman College, on Friday night on “Coach Charlie Brown Court” at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. NJCU had a 74-39 margin in kills in the win.
NJCU improves to 14-8 overall while defeating the Lightning for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings, and the second time this year. Lehman, which had won seven of its last nine matches, drops to 14-10 overall. NJCU leads the all-time series, 17-13, and is 10-4 all-time at home in the series. The Knights also defeated Lehman on January 21 in the Bronx, NY, by a 3-0 final.
Bryant nearly registered a triple-double, finishing with match highs of 24 kills and eight blocks (two solo), while contributing 11 digs. He posted a .367 attack percentage (24-6-49) while reaching the 20-kill plateau for the third time in his career. Bryant recorded the 500th kill of his career in the third set—the 187th game of his career. He now has 513 kills in only 188 career sets.
For Bryant, the 24 kills mark just the 12th time in school history a player has notched at least 24 winners in a match and the fourth most ever recorded in a four-set contest. Bryant's previous career high was 21 kills accomplished twice this season—in a four-set loss to Hunter on February 28 and a three-set setback to Vassar on March 6.
Edra's 28 digs are a school record during the rally-scoring era (2001-present) and the third most in school history for a match under any format. The 28 digs are the most in a match of any length since Jose Martinez had 35 digs against Stevens on March 21, 2000 and the second most ever in a four-set match.
NJCU senior setter FELIPE SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science) equaled his career high with 56 assists, adding eight digs. He previously had 56 assists at Bard in a five-set win on March 10, 2009.
Sophomore outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) equaled a season-high in kills, slamming 15 winners in a match for the third time this year. He had hit .250 (15-7-32) with nine digs and two aces. Freshman middle blocker DAVIS OBI (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) pounded a career-best 10 kills (10-3-24, .292), and stuffed five blocks. Freshman outside hitter JOSE MATTA (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Union Hill) had 10 digs and nine kills in only two sets of action. Freshman middle blocker CASEY BLAKE (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) tallied seven kills and three blocks.
Lehman was led by junior opposite RJ LeBlanc (South Rockwood, MI/Airport), who hit .244 with 12 kills and one error (45 attempts), adding 13 digs and seven blocks. Junior Nate Martin (Carleton, MI/Airport) posted a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs. Freshman setter Angel Fernandez (Bronx, NY/Walton) delivered 32 assists and four blocks.
The match, which was delayed 45 minutes at the beginning, opened with NJCU posting 17 kills and a .312 attack percentage in the first set, while Lehman had just six winners. After Lehman cut NJCU's lead to one, 23-22, Bryant answered with a kill and Matta slammed two more for a 26-22 edge. Lehman made three attack errors before Bryant sealed the set with a winner.
In the second set, NJCU held a modest 16-13 lead before uncorking an 11-3 run to seize a 27-16 advantage. Kills by the Old Bridge, NJ connection of Lisk and Obi clinched the 30-20 win and a 2-0 match lead.
In the third set there were 15 ties and seven lead changes, as NJCU slammed 21 kills but made 12 attack errors. Bryant had nine kills in the set and hit .350 (9-2-20). Edra had 14 of his 28 digs in the set while Obi hit .333 with five kills. After a 24-24 tie, NJCU made a pair of attack errors to give the visitors back the lead for good. Trailing 28-24, Bryant trimmed the deficit to 29-27 with three kills and a Lehman attack miscue made it a one-point, 29-28 game, before a service error by the Knights gave Lehman a 30-28 win and forced a fourth set.
Lehman, which has been playing its best volleyball of the season in the last month after opening the year 7-7, traded 15 ties and 12 lead changes with the Knights in the final set. NJCU slugged 20 kills and hit .356 in the final game (20-4-45). Lehman had 19 of its 39 kills in the game. Lisk rose to the occasion in the final set, hitting .667 with nine kills (9-1-12) while Bryant uncorked seven kills and hit .429 (7-1-14).
The back-and-forth match saw Lehman own a 19-15 lead before NJCU trailed to tie it at 21-21 on a Lisk ace. After ties at 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, the Lightning landed a pair of kills, including one from LeBlanc, for a 28-26 lead. Bryant and Blake registered back-to-back kills to tie it at 28-28. After Lehman reclaimed a 29-28 lead, threatening a fifth set, Lisk floored a shot for a 29-29 tie. LeBlancput the Lightning up one, 30-29, and had set point, before Lisk attacked another kill. A solo block on Martin by Bryant provided the momentum and a 31-30 NJCU advantage before Lisk buried a kill off a Bryant set on match point.
NJCU is back on the court on Sunday, March 21 beginning at 10 a.m. with a home tri-match against Stevenson University and York College (NY). NJCU will face York at 2 p.m. Stevenson will face York at noon in a neutral site contest, following the 10 a.m. match with the Knights. Lehman will be the #3 seed in the CUNYAC Tournament when the quarterfinal round commences on March 23.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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LEHMAN
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Score
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3
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1
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Attack Percentage
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.226 (74-34-177)
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.055 (39-30-165)
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Kills
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74
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39
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Assists
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66
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37
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Service Aces
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4
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8
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Digs
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84
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61
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Total Blocks
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10.0
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12.0
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Points
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88.0
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59.0
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