New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

MORRISTOWN, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University was slightly outplayed offensively but dug down deep, literally, with 105 digs as a team, including three players with at least 20 defensive plays, as the Gothic Knights outlasted the College of Saint Elizabeth, 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 26-24, 19-25, 15-11) in a non-conference  women's volleyball match on Tuesday night at Saint Joseph Hall.
 
NJCU (7-18) wins its second in a row and defeats St. Elizabeth (12-16) for the 23^rd consecutive meeting since 1992 while gaining a 24-6 lead in the all-time series. It was the first meeting between the schools since September 25, 2005.
 
Three players posted double figures in kills and two had double-doubles for the Knights. Freshman middle blocker JADE MEDLEY (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) reached double figures in kills for the seventh time this season, hitting .256 with a team-best 16 winners (16-5-43).
 
Senior outside hitter TABITHA JORDAN (West New York, NJ/Memorial) defended a match and career-high 27 digs—topping her previous best of 20 vs. Rosemont on September 11, 2010, and slammed 12 kills (12-4-38, .211). She upped her career total to 643 kills and moved into eighth place in program history, passing Glorinell Perez (633 kills, 2004-07) on the career charts.
 
Rookie setter CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) delivered a career-high 41 assists and her 11^th double-double of the season with 16 digs.
 
Senior libero AMANDA DOPICO (West New York, NJ/Memorial) and junior outside hitter KIARA MARTINEZ (Newark, NJ/East Side) defended 21 and 20 digs, respectively and senior defensive specialist MICHELLE RAYO (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) contributed 10 digs. Freshman middle blocker INDIGO HATCHER (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) finished with 10 kills and three blocks (two solo).
 
The Screaming Eagles were led by freshman outside hitter Katie Cooper (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) with 17 kills (17-8-64, .141) and 15 digs while sophomore setter Amy Cooper (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) dished 35 assists,  23 digs and three aces. Freshman libero Rachel Hausler (Lebanon, NJ/Voorhees) tallied 24 digs and four aces. Sophomore outside hitter Kareemah Muhammad (Plainfield, NJ/Plainfield) chipped in 12 kills.
 
In the first set, each team had 12 kills but CSE hit .220 with just three errors and in a period with eight ties, the Eagles were more accurate late. Tied at 20-20, the Eagles scored the final five points, including three consecutive aces by Hausler to claim the set. Medley had four kills and was errorless, hitting .364 in the set.
 
NJCU had 11 kills in the second set, led by Medley and Jordan with four each and CSE was held to negative attack accuracy (-.025). While there were seven ties, all were early in the period. With CSE leading 10-9, the Knights uncorked a 12-2 run to gain a 21-12 lead and won the game by eight, 25-17.
 
The important third set saw nine ties and four lead changes with St. Elizabeth landing 15 kills. NJCU floored 13 kills, led by Martinez who hit .500 with four kills. Tied at 21, NJCU scored the next three points, including a kill by Hatcher, and held set point, ahead 24-21. CSE rallied to tie it at 24-24 before giving it right back with a service error and missed attack as the Knights took the set, 26-24.
 
The fourth set was again a back-and-forth affair, with nine ties and six lead changes. NJCU held a 10-7 lead before the hosts scored 11 of the next 13 points to claim an 18-12 lead. Sophomore middle blocker Subhana Wrights (Lawrence Township, NJ/Lawrence), who had three solo blocks in the match, tallied two key stuffs in the period. NJCU was able to whittle the lead to 20-18 before the Eagles scored five of the final six points, and forced a decisive fifth set with a kill by Muhammad. NJCU hit -.054 in the period.
 
In the final period, Medley hit .429 with three kills. NJCU jumped out to an 8-4 lead before St. Elizabeth rallied to tie it at 9-9. But the Eagles committed a pair of errors and Medley slammed a kill for a 12-9 lead. The cushion expanded to 14-10 after a CSE service error and a kill by Jordan before NJCU claimed the match on the 22^nd service error of the contest by the hosts.
 
NJCU will play its final home match of the 2011 season and final New Jersey Athletic Conference contest when it hosts Rowan University on Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m. It will be Senior Night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center as NJCU honors its three seniors—Dopico, Jordan and Rayo.