New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

RIVERDALE, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University hit .287 as a team and limited Polytechnic Institute of New York University to a -.103 attack line as NJCU improved to 25-0 all-time against the Blue Jays, sweeping to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-17) victory in the opening neutral court match of a Skyline Conference Quad on Sunday morning at the Sharp Center.
 
NJCU (9-9, 6-4 Skyline) combined for 10.5 blocks in the win and held a decisive 35-15 margin in kills as the Gothic Knights swept NYU-Poly for the second time this year and the 23rd time in 25 all-time meetings. Poly dropped to 5-13 (2-8 Skyline).
 
Overall, 30 of NJCU's 35 kills came off the arms of senior outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge), four-time Skyline Rookie of the Week BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) and one-time Skyline Player of the Week and junior setter/opposite JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne).
 
Lisk upped his career kills total to 873 by planting a match-best 12 kills and a .455 hitting percentage (12-2-22) while Arslani hit .381 with 10 winners (10-2-21) and five blocks. Arslani reached double figures in kills for the 15^th time in 18 matches this year.
 
Beaumont, who typically plays setter in the backrow and right side in the front rotation, was in the opposite hitter role the entire match and finished with eight kills (8-3-21, .238), six digs and four blocks.
 
Freshman middle blocker PATRYK RUSZNICA (Cieszyn, Poland/Bayonne) stuffed a career-high seven blocks (seven assisted). It was the 11th time this year he has tallied four or more blocks and the seventh effort of at least five stuffs. Junior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) set all the way around and finished with 27 assists. Sophomore libero A.J. FLORES (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) defended seven digs and freshman middle blocker IVAN PRENSA (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) added three blocks
 
In defeat NYU-Poly got nearly half of its kills from sophomore outside hitter Fild Kroqi (Bronx, NY); he finished with seven kills and eight digs. Freshman middle hitter Stefan Leger (Woodmere, NY) had five blocks but hit -.118. Sophomore setter Rishi Sarkar (Cherry Hill, NJ) totaled 10 assists.
 
NJCU never trailed in the first two sets. Leading 9-7 in the opening period, NJCU scored five straight points and grabbed a 14-7 lead on an ace by Prensa. The Knights would score 16 of the final 19 points of the set and junior defensive specialist VIN GENOVA (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) served nine straight. NJCU had three consecutive blocks during the Genova serving run with Rusznica assisting on all three plays and Arslani adding two blocks. NJCU hit .444 in the period and had a 14-2 advantage in kills as Poly was limited to two kills and eight attack errors (-.250). Arslani had an impressive line of six kills and no errors on nine swings and hit .667 in the first game.
 
In the second set, NJCU held a 13-7 differential in kills, and hit .375 as a team, led by Lisk who posted seven kills on nine attempts without an error for a lethal .778 attack rate. The game was still close at 15-11 before NJCU scored five in a row and vaulted out to a 22-12 lead after a 7-1 run. Lisk had kills on two of the final three points for the 25-16 decision.
 
In the final set, NJCU's hitting percentage dipped to .069 but still had an 8-6 edge in winners and limited Poly to a -.130 attack line. Leading 13-11, NJCU broke open the period with six consecutive points and a 9-2 run. With NJCU ahead 24-13, Poly had three straight blocks before the Knights sealed the 25-17 victory when the Blue Jays had an attack error on the fifth match point opportunity.