New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

BRONX, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior outside hitter TABITHA JORDAN (West New York, NJ/Memorial) notched the 19^th double-double of her career and moved into ninth place in program history in career kills, but it was enough to lift New Jersey City University to victory as Lehman College won the final two sets after a 1-1 deadlock and defeated the Gothic Knights, 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-15, 25-13) in a non-conference  match on Friday night at The APEX.
 
Lehman improved to 8-6 overall and defeated NJCU (4-10) for the second year in a row after the Knights had won the previous eight meetings. NJCU leads the all-time series, 20-10.
 
Jordan hit .292 with 10 kills and only three errors (10-3-24), adding 14 digs, while increasing her four-year kills total to 594. She passed Megan Roberts (2004-05), who had 590 career kills, for ninth place on NJCU's career charts.
 
Meanwhile, freshman middle b locker JADE MEDLEY (Newark, NJ/Hudson Catholic) had another outstanding effort, notching double figures in kills for the third consecutive match with 10 kills (10-6-30, .133) and four solo blocks.
 
Also for the Knights, rookie setter CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) delivered 22 assists, six digs and two aces.  Senior outside hitter/libero MICHELLE RAYO (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) provided 10 digs and three service aces. Senior libero AMANDA DOPICO (West New York, NJ/Memorial) had 10 digs.
 
Lehman hit .269 as a team (47-15-119) and landed 14 aces. The Lightning were led by senior outside hitter Gerri Ann Martin (Bronx, NY) with 17 kills and a .400 attack percentage (17-3-35) with just three errors. She added 14 digs for a double-double and two aces. Sophomore outside hitter Shari Quiles (Bronx, NY) hit .333 with 10 winners (10-3-21), seven digs and two aces.
 
Also for Lehman, senior setter Jasmine Bermudez (Bronx, NY) collected 37 assists, nine digs and five service aces. Freshman outside hitter Jo-Marie Aquino (Bronx, NY) finished with three solo blocks.
 
Lehman hit .294 in the opening set and held a 13-5 margin in kills. The Lightning opened up a 21-8 lead before the Knights made a late push to make it closer, before losing 25-14.
 
In the second set there were five ties and three lead changes as the Knights rebounded with 15 kills and hit .290 during the game.  NJCU led 13-9 before Lehman, which had 12 kills in the set, ran off eight consecutive points to claim a 17-13 margin. The lead stood at four, 22-18 after an Aquino solo block and 23-19 after a kill by senior outside Jennifer Winkler (Glendale, NY). But NJCU would score the final six points of the set to steal a 25-23 win to tie the match. Junior outside hitter KIARA MARTINEZ (Newark, NJ/East Side) serviced five straight points, including one ace, and Medley slammed three kills to make it a 23-22 deficit, before her back-to-back winners accounted for the 24^th and 25^th points.
 
Lehman regained a 2-1 lead in the match, hitting .250 in the third set while owning a 10-4 margin in kills. But it took a rally midway through the set for the Lightning. NJCU led 13-11 before the Lightning uncorked a 9-0 run to build a 20-13 advantage. Martin had three kills during the spurt. Lehman would cruise to a 10-point win in the game, 25-15.
 
In the final period, Lehman had its best hitting line of the night, posting a .357 clip with 12 kills and just two errors (28 attempts). The Lightning built an 8-2 edge then scored nine straight points for a sizable 20-5 lead before prevailing, 25-13.
 
NJCU will next face Kean University on Tuesday, October 11 at 7 p.m. in Union, NJ. While Kean and NJCU are both members of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, the match will be a non-conference contest.