New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University hit .333 in the fifth set to avoid a home court loss and three Gothic Knights netted double figures in kills as NJCU held off a five-game challenge from Lehman College to win, 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 15-10), in the opening match of a non-conference tri-match hosted by NJCU at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on “Coach Charlie Brown Court.”
 
NJCU improves its record to 6-7 and defeats Lehman for the 16^th time in the last 17 meetings; the Lightning had their two match win streak snapped, falling to 6-4. NJCU leads the all-time series, 21-13.
 
There were a combined 22 ties and 11 lead changes in the match. Each team hit well, with the Knights owning a .238 percentage with 58 kills (58-27-130) and the Lightning claiming 44 kills and a .204 clip (44-21-113).
 
Junior setter/opposite JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) notched his second straight double-double and 11^th of his career while registering a career high in kills with 14—less than 24 hours after previously setting a career mark with 12 kills in a loss at #8 Stevens Institute of Technology yesterday. Beaumont hit .281 with 14 kills (14-5-32) and delivered 27 assists on a .466 set percentage.
 
Freshman outside hitter and two-time Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) had the second highest kill mark of his young career, flooring 19 winners with a .282 percentage (19-8-39), six digs and three blocks. He reached double figures in kills for the 10^th time in 13 matches this year and had the match-high in kills for a ninth time.
 
Senior outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) moved into eighth place in school history with 823 kills, performing well. He chalked up an impressive .542 attack percentage and made just two errors, slamming 15 kills in 24 attempts. Lisk added four blocks.
 
Also for NJCU freshman middle blocker PATRYK RUSZNICA (Cieszyn, Poland/Bayonne) rejected five blocks—the fifth time this year he has tallied five stuffs —and added two aces while junior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) provided 16 assists and rookie opposite ANGEL MARTINEZ (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) had six kills and a pair of aces.
 
Lehman was paced by junior middle blocker Brian Francisco (Bronx, NY) with nine kills, a .304 attack effort (9-2-23) and six blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Manuel Bonilla (Bronx, NY/Walton) had 13 kills (13-9-30, .133) and eight digs while junior middle blocker Luis Colon (Bronx, NY) collected 10 kills, hit .381 (10-2-21) and supplied nine digs and two aces. Also for the visitors, sophomore setter Miguel Gallardo (Bronx, NY) dished 33 assists and added seven digs and four blocks.
 
In the first set, Lehman hit .500 with 12 kills and only committed two errors on 20 attacks while NJCU was limited to a .167 accuracy rate, finishing with 11 winners. NJCU led 17-12 before the tide began turning for the Lightning. Junior outside hitter Orlando Vargas (Salcedo, Dominican Republic) served eight in a row, as the Lightning struck for a 7-0 run to claim a 20-18 lead. NJCU committed four errors during the run and Francisco combined with teammates for two blocks. NJCU pulled within one point four times—20-19, 21-20, 22-21 and 23-22. But Colon, who hit .800 in the set with four kills, capped the win with back-to-back kills for a 25-22 final.
 
NJCU never trailed in the second period and hit .500 with 15 kills in 26 swings (two errors), led by Beaumont and Arslani with five kills apiece. Arslani hit .571 and had three blocks while Beaumont hit .625 and added five assists. Lisk had a .750 attack rate with three winners. Lehman had 11 kills and hit .250. After NJCU claimed an 18-11 advantage, Lehman drew within four, 22-18, before a pair of Lisk kills sealed the 25-19 win.
 
Game three featured the most ties—13—with four lead changes. The Knights had 15 kills in the set and hit .206 (15-8-34), but were carried by Lisk who hit a dynamic .778 with seven kills and no errors in nine attempts. Lehman was held to .111 attacking (7-4-27). Lehman led 16-13 after a pair of kills by Bonilla, but NJCU rallied and the match stood deadlocked at 16-16, 18-18 and 19-19. From there, NJCU scored six of the final seven points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. A kill by Rusznica and two setting errors made it 22-19 before Lisk hammered two more kills for a 24-20 lead. A Lehman attack error accounted for the final point.
 
Both schools were inaccurate in the fourth set. NJCU hit .000 with eight kills and eight errors; Lehman was slightly better, hitting .045 with eight kills (seven errors), and Colon hit .500 with four kills (4-1-6). NJCU led 12-11 before a kill by Colon and a later ace by Bonilla gave Lehman a lead it would not surrender. A combo block by sophomore middle blocker NATHAN JOUBERT (Union City, NJ/Union City) and Beaumont closed the deficit to one, 18-17, before the Lightning scored four of the next five for a 22-18 cushion, and forced a fifth set with the 25-20 win.
 
But after Lehman scored first in the decisive fifth set, NJCU scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a commanding 10-4 lead. The Knights hit .333 in the period with nine kills (9-2-21) and limited Lehman to a .150 percentage (6-3-20). A combo block by Lisk and Rusznica followed by a Lisk winner opened the spurt, with an ace by Rusznica and a Beaumont kill increasing the advantage to 8-3. The Knights closed the match out with kills by Lisk and Beaumont staking the hosts to a 14-8 lead before Lisk slammed down match point for the 15-10 result.