New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

HOBOKEN, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University was facing its second perennial nationally ranked men's volleyball team of the day, and despite a 3-0 loss, played perhaps its most complete match of the season. The Gothic Knights matched #8 Stevens Institute of Technology's power as each school recorded 41 kills, but the Ducks did just enough to win, edging NJCU in a 3-0 sweep by identical scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 in the final contest of a non-conference tri-match on Saturday at Canavan Arena.
 
There were a combined 35 ties and 17 lead changes in the match, including 18 ties and nine lead changes in a completely see-saw second period.
 
Stevens, ranked No. 8 in the latest America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Men's Top 15 Poll, improved to 8-1 on the season and 7-0 at home and defeated NJCU (5-7) for the 25^th consecutive meeting since February 1998, including the last 15 by 3-0 results. In a series NJCU once led 14-2, Stevens now owns a 27-14 advantage.
 
The athletic Knights gave the larger Stevens side all it could handle after NJCU fell in its previous match to six-time national champion and #4 ranked Juniata College—a team the Ducks upset earlier in the day, 3-2.
 
In defeat, junior setter/opposite JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) had the best match of his career, reaching double digits in kills for just the third time while notching his 10^th career double-double. Beaumont slugged a match and career-high 12 kills, hit .381 with only four errors (21 attempts), and still found time to quarterback the offense with 21 assists, a .429 set percentage, and five digs. He tallied his first double-double since March 8, 2009 against Yeshiva University.
 
Freshman middle blocker PATRYK RUSZNICA (Cieszyn, Poland/Bayonne) also had a solid performance, despite dealing with an ankle sprain suffered a week earlier. He was healthy enough to hit an impressive .467 with eight kills and just one error (15 attempts) and rejected five assisted blocks.
 
NJCU, which hit .229 as a team (41-19-96) and had 49.0 points and 6.0 blocks, received nine kills (9-6-27, .111) and two blocks from two-time Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week and outside hitter BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley), who also played the tri-match with an injury.
 
Senior outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) moved within one kill of eighth place in school history, finishing with seven in the setback. Junior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) provided 14 assists and rookie opposite ANGEL MARTINEZ (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) had four kills and a pair of blocks.
 
The Ducks hit .350 as a squad with a line of 41-13-80, adding 54.0 points and 9.0 blocks, and junior outside hitter Thomas Hannum (Libertyville, IL) was the biggest weapon, landing 11 kills on a .471 percentage (11-3-17), with seven digs and two blocks. Freshman middle hitter Etan Bennett (Rochester, NY) had a match-high .571 attack percentage with nine kills on 14 attempts (one error) and sophomore outside hitter Ryan Seifert (Chicopee, MA) finished with eight kills, a .316 attack rate (8-2-19) and two blocks in two sets.
 
Also for the host Ducks, freshman setter Kevin Aeckerle (Henrietta, NY) had 29 assists and a .569 set percentage with 11 assists coming from freshman setter Dylan Schlosser (Emmaus, PA). Freshman opposite Ian Tyger (York, PA) contributed six kills, hit .500 (6-2-8) and four assisted blocks.
 
In a back-and-forth first set which featured nine ties and six lead changes, the Ducks had a 14-12 edge in kills and a .207/.185 differential in attack percentage, led by Seifert who had six kills for Stevens and Hannum with four. Beaumont hit .429 with five kills and six assists.
 
Trailing 19-16, the Knights pulled within one on a Beaumont kill and a Rusznica/Lisk block. With Stevens up 20-18, Beaumont landed another kill and Rusznica/Martinez teamed for a block and a 20-20 deadlock. A winner by Hannum and an ace by junior middle hitter Jake Modestow (Hampden, MA) put the Ducks back in front, 22-20 and a pair of NJCU attack errors made it 24-20, before Hannum landed a winner to win the set, 25-21.
 
Beaumont tallied nine assists and five kills in the second set when NJCU collected 17 kills—the most by either school in any set in the match—and the Knights hit .306 (17-6-36). But Stevens countered with a .500 percentage on 13 kills (13-1-24).
 
With 18 ties and nine lead changes, every point in the second set was crucial and during the first 43 points of the period the schools were separated by more than one point on the scoreboard just twice—16-14 and 18-16. With Stevens ahead 21-20, Martinez forced the 18^th tie with a kill. But Stevens scored the final four points of the game to outlast the Knights, 25-21. A kill by Hannum followed by a double block, led by Tyger, made it 23-21. After an NJCU timeout, Tyger capped the set win with back-to-back kills.
 
The third set was also competitive with eight ties and two lead changes, but Stevens hit .370 (14-4-27) versus .182 for the Knights (12-6-33). Hannum and Bennett each had four kills in the game. NJCU trailed 15-11 before two Arslani kills sandwiched around an ace from Martinez made it 15-14. A pair of kills by Lisk kept the deficit at one, 19-18 and NJCU tied it at 20-20 on a combo block by Arslani and Rusznica. But a Stevens kill, followed by two attack errors put the hosts in front, 23-20. Rusznica landed a kill to make it 23-21, before Stevens sealed the sweep with a Bennett kill and another NJCU attack miscue.
 
NJCU will play a home tri-match tomorrow—Sunday, February 19, beginning at 10 a.m. when it hosts Lehman College and Bard College. The Knights face Lehman first and Bard at 2 p.m. with the schools meeting in a neutral court match at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center at noon.