BOX SCORE
JAMAICA, QUEENS, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) has been a bit nomadic on the court early this season, starting at both middle blocker and outside hitter. But wherever New Jersey City University head coach Carlo Edra has penciled Lisk in this season hasn't mattered because he continues to post sizzling attack percentages. On Friday night, Lisk posted an attack rate better than .525 for the third consecutive match, slamming nine kills without an error in 17 attempts for a .529 percentage as the Gothic Knights swept a non-conference road match from York College (NY), 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-22) at the York College Gymnasium.
NJCU improves to 3-2 on the year and defeated York (5-3) for the 13th consecutive meeting since 1996 in a series the Knights lead, 16-5. It was NJCU's first road match of the season.
Lisk only hit better than .500 in three matches during a 2010 sophomore campaign in which he hit .191 for the year. But five matches into the 2011 season, his attack percentage is a stellar .439 (42-6-82) and he has posted a line of 27-1-46 for a .565 accuracy rate in his last three matches.
Lisk, the 2009-10 Gothic Knight Achievement Award winner for highest grade point average of all male student-athletes at the University, explained what he believes is the difference in his junior year play. “I feel like I opened my game up by playing at middle [hitter] for the first couple of matches. It let me work on my timing and I'm seeing both the block and the ball better. I think it's helping me be a more efficient hitter.”
Sophomore outside hitter MICHAL KUCZA (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) matched Lisk with a team-best nine kills, adding four digs and two aces while rookie opposite RICH BOYLE (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) had eight kills. Senior setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) delivered 24 assists and two blocks. Sophomore middle blocker CORRADO DeVINCENZO (Bayonne, NJ/County Prep) had three blocks.
Senior defensive specialist WILTON JIMENEZ (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) and senior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) combined for nine digs as NJCU limited the Cardinals to a .093 team attack percentage.
For the hosts, freshman outside hitter Ahmed Helmi (Cairo, Egypt) had match highs of 12 kills (12-4-21, .381) and seven digs with two solo blocks and two aces. Senior middle hitter Alex Niles (St. Georges, Grenada) added seven kills and two solo blocks. Junior setter Kenan Kajtezovic (Velkaklavusa, Bosnia) and sophomore Scott Luna (Elmhurst, NY) combined for 22 assists.
For the first time this season, NJCU had a set extend to extra points as the Knights and Cardinals exchanged eight leads and 16 ties in the opening set. The Knights had 14 kills and hit .281 as a team in the set. Late in the first set, the clubs traded ties at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and final 19-19, before the Knights opened a 22-19 margin after a pair of kills by Boyle sandwiched around a Cardinal ball handing miscue. York stormed back with three points on a Helmi kill, Luna ace and Niles block to even it at 22-22.
Kills by Boyle and Kajtezovic kept it knotted at 23-23. Helmi added a kill for set point before Kucza kept NJCU alive when he floored an attack. York moved in front 25-24 on a winner. But after a timeout, Rodriguez evened it at 25-25 with a one-handed dump kill that split the blocker and the net from the setting position. Lisk combined with freshman middle blocker NATHAN JOUBERT (Union City, NJ/Union City) for a stuff of Niles as NJCU moved ahead 26-25, before finally winning the set on a York attack error. Lisk hit .571 with four kills (4-0-7) in the game.
In set two, NJCU jumped out to a 15-9 lead. Lisk hit .600 in the set with three winners (3-0-5). The Cardinals were able to close within two points at 19-17 and 20-18. But NJCU scored five of the final six points of the set. Ahead 22-19, Lisk slammed back-to-back kills before DeVincenzo and Boyle combined for a block to seal it, 25-19.
In the third set, Kucza led the way with five kills and a .571 percentage (5-1-7). Down early, NJCU would take a 15-11 lead on two kills by Lisk and a winner by Kucza. York cut it to 15-13 before Kucza chalked up three more kills as the lead grew to 20-14. The Cardinals couldn't get closer than 21-18 as the hosts were forced to commit several errors as the Knights took the final set, 25-22.
On Tuesday, February 8, NJCU will face a stiff challenge when it visits #8 Philadelphia Biblical University at 7 p.m. in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division match in Langhorne, PA.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Team Stat Comparison
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NJCU
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YORK
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Score
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3
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0
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Attack Percentage
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.118 (31-21-85)
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.093 (29-22-75)
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Kills
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31
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29
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Assists
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29
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26
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Service Aces
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7
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3
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Digs
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20
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22
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Total Blocks
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4.0
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7.0
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Points
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42.0
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39.0
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