New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | First-place Richard Stockton College extended its four-year New Jersey Athletic Conference record to 28-1 and 43-2 since the 2006 season as the Ospreys swept an NJAC match from host New Jersey City University, 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-15) on Thursday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
Stockton improved to 16-5 and 5-0 in the NJAC while the Gothic Knights fall to 4-9 (0-4 NJAC). Stockton leads the all-time series, 40-5. Stockton, which entered the match with the No. 12 ranked team hitting percentage in Division III, demonstrated why with a .319 attack rate and 40 kills (40-11-91). The Ospreys only trailed for one point the entire match.
 
The Ospreys were led by sophomore opposite Nicole Serekian (Mahwah, NJ/Mahwah) who hit .600 with 13 kills and just one error in 20 attempts, while adding two blocks. Senior outside hitter Christine Velott (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) hit .269 with 10 kills (10-3-26). Senior setter Laura Hausman (Bethlehem, PA/Catasauqua) delivered 27 assists and landed five of her squad's 12 service aces.
 
NJCU junior middle hitter BRITTANY EREZUMA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) landed a team-high seven kills (7-5-22, .091) and senior outside hitter TABITHA JORDAN (West New York, NJ/Memorial) floored six kills and hit .111 (6-3-27). With the six kills, Jordan increased her four-year total to 584 kills and moved into 10^th place in the 29-year history of the program, passing Lucille Villaplana (580 kills, 2002-04) on the career charts.
 
Also for Stockton, junior middle hitter Stephanie Warner (Totowa, NJ/Passaic Valley), the NCAA Division III leader in hitting percentage, hit .857 with six kills and no errors in seven swings, while adding seven kills, two aces and two blocks.
 
Stockton also received a .600 attack rate by senior middle hitter Tabitha Nejman (Runnemede, NJ/Our Lady of Mercy), with six kills and no errors (10 attempts). Freshman libero Ashley Gubista (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) had a match-high 11 digs and added five aces.
 
Also for the Knights, rookie setter CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) tallied 17 assists and nine digs. Junior libero AMANDA DOPICO (West New York, NJ/Memorial) added nine digs and senior outside hitter MICHELLE RAYO (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) landed two aces. NJCU was without leading offensive player and freshman middle blocker JADE MEDLEY (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic), who missed the match.
 
Stockton hit .400 in the opening set (12-2-25) before improving that figure dramatically in the second period when the Ospreys had 15 kills and only two miscues while chalking up a .481 percentage (15-2-27).
 
In the opening period, NJCU struck first for its only lead of the match before Stockton moved ahead 10-2, aided by a pair of blocks by Serekian and Warner. Stockton pushed the lead to 22-6 behind eight straight Warner services. Velott had four kills in the set.
 
In the second set, Stockton led the visitors with six kills (6-1-9, .556). After Stockton gained a 7-1 lead, NJCU whittled away at the deficit, drawing within 13-9 after a great diving dig by Dopico led to a backrow kill from junior opposite KIARA MARTINEZ (Newark, NJ/East Side) and it was 14-10 after an Erezuma kill. But the Ospreys responded by scoring nine consecutive points behind the serving of Gubista as Stockton had six kills and two aces to account for eight of the points during the spurt, before winning the set on a pair of kills, 25-11.
 
In the final set, Serekian was 5-for-5 on attack and the guests took leads of 13-3 and 17-5. Hausman later served four consecutive aces to give Stockton match point, 24-8. NJCU was able to hold off seven match points, including a pair of aces by Rayo, before the Ospreys finally sealed the set, wining 25-15.
 
NJCU will return to action tomorrow (Friday, October 7) in a non-conference road match at Lehman College in the Bronx, NY. Stockton hosts Rutgers-Newark on October 11 in NJAC action.