New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEW YORK, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Perhaps no two teams in Division III have had more difficult schedules to open the season than New Jersey City University and Hunter College. On Friday night, in a battle of two two-win teams that love facing strong competition, the Hawks got the better of the Gothic Knights as Hunter hit .355 and had a 48-31 margin in kills to sweep NJCU, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) in non-conference action at the Hunter Sportsplex.
 
Hunter (3-6) had four players notch between eight and 10 kills and won the third straight meeting between the clubs. NJCU dropped its fifth in a row and fell to 2-5. Hunter leads the series, 15-11.
 
In defeat, two-time Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) reached double figures in kills for the seventh consecutive time to open his collegiate career and had a match-high in winners for the sixth time, finishing with 10 kills, a .238 percentage (10-5-21) and five digs.
 
Junior opposite and setter JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) hit .333 with seven kills (7-2-15), 12 assists and four digs and senior outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) added nine kills (9-5-22, .182) and five digs. Junior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) finished with 16 assists.
 
Hunter was led by senior outside hitter Christopher Newcomb (Waimea, Hawaii) who equaled a match-high with 10 kills and hit .412 (10-3-17) and junior middle blocker Braien Otsla (Brooklyn, NY) hit a match-best .571 with nine kills (9-1-14) and two solo blocks. Sophomore setter Stanley Martinez (Bayside, NY) dished 31 assists for a .449 setting percentage and had five kills (one error) in nine swings for a .444 attack rate.
 
Also for the Hawks, junior middle blocker John Gemegah (Jackson Heights, NY) collected nine kills and hit .294 (9-4-17), also adding two solo stuffs and two aces. Senior outside hitter Jerin Kallickal (Abha, Saudi Arabia) chipped in eight kills and a .312 percentage (8-3-16).
 
In the first set, NJCU was limited to -.077 attacking with eight kills and 10 errors and Hunter answered with a .259 rate (12-5-27). Otsla hit .800 in the period (4-0-5). Leading 11-10, Hunter used two blocks by Otsla and a kill for a 17-11 cushion and won the set by six, 25-19.
 
There were three ties in the second set by Hunter, which hit .379 in the game with 16 kills and only five errors (16-5-29). The Hawks never trailed, despite a solid offensive effort by NJCU; the Knights hit .333 in the second set as Lisk hit .500 with five kills (5-1-8) and Arslani finished hitting .429 with four winners (4-1-7). But Kallickal hit .667, slamming five balls (5-1-6) and Otsla hit .600 (3-0-5). The Hawks led 22-18 and 23-20 before a kill by Beaumont and a Hunter attack error cut the deficit to 23-22. Kallickal and Lisk traded kills, and the Hawks' lead stood at one, 24-23, before Martinez won the set with a kill.
 
In the third set, Hunter posted scintillating offensive numbers with 20 of its 25 points coming via kills and the Hawks hit .405 (20-5-37). NJCU hit .333 but only had nine kills (9-1-24) and Hunter never trailed or was tied in the period. An ace by Arslani, followed by a back-row kill by the rookie, cut an 18-13 deficit to two, 19-17, but three straight kills by Hunter, picked up by Otsla, Kallickal and Martinez extended the lead to 22-17 and the Hawks sealed the win with a 25-19 triumph in the final game. Arslani had four kills and hit .571 in the third set (4-9-7) but Gemegah led the Hunter attack with six kills and a .625 percentage (6-1-8) and Newcomb hit .750 with three kills in four swings.
 
NJCU is 1-3 in its first season as an associate member of the Skyline Conference in men's volleyball and the Knights will attempt to even its league mark on Sunday, February 12 when it plays SUNY Purchase (10 a.m.) and Yeshiva University (12 p.m.) in a pair of Skyline matches hosted by SUNY Purchase in Purchase, NY.