New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME NOTES/PROGRAM: Gothic Knight Insights, ASHLEY LATUSHKO
POST-GAME INTERVIEW: Ray Vance and JADE MEDLEY

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University trailed 6-0 and 8-1 in the fourth set but persevered to force a fifth game and dominated Rutgers-Newark from there, scoring 10 of the final 12 points to stun the Scarlet Raiders, 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8) while snapping a 30-match New Jersey Athletic Conference losing streak on October 10 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
Junior middle hitter JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic) reached the 20-kill plateau for the second time in her career and was the offensive catalyst for the Gothic Knights, as she strung together consecutive kills during multiple runs in the match, including four straight putaways during a back-breaking 8-0 surge in the final game.
 
With the win, NJCU (6-13, 1-3 NJAC) wins its first NJAC match since a five-set (3-2) victory over Kean University on September 29, 2009. The Knights snapped a four-match skid in 2013, and also won their first home conference match since a 3-0 win over Rutgers-Newark on September 15, 2009. There were 31 ties and 17 lead changes in the five-setter.
 
Medley, who reached double digits in kills for the 18^th time in her career and fifth time this season, amassed 20 kills for the first time since she slammed a career-best 25 in a 3-2 road win at City College of New York as a freshman on October 22, 2011. She was involved in all four blocks NJCU had in the match while hitting an impressive .302 with only seven errors in 43 attempts.
 
The undersized 5-foot-8 middle was matched up all night with R-N 6-foot-0 middle Sharee Gordon (Newark, NJ/University) and only had two kills in the first set (2-1-6, .167). But she heated up from there, with four kills in the second game (4-1-6, .500), five kills each in the third and fourth sets when she hit .333 and .214, respectively, before cementing her best collegiate conference result by hitting .375 in the decisive fifth game with four winners (4-1-8).
 
Junior setter MADELYN LEON (West New York, NJ/Memorial) quarterbacked the offense with a career-high 46 assists (.284 percentage), adding seven digs and senior libero CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) matched her career high with 25 digs—the third time in her career she has amassed that many digs—her ninth career 20-dig effort and 39^th career outing with double-digit digs.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman middle hitter SHEGE HAXHAJ (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) reached double figures in kills for the first time—two more than her previous best—landing 11 kills (11-6-43, .116). Rookie defensive specialist JESSICA PEREZ (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) equaled her career high with 19 digs—her fourth career double-digit defensive effort and had two fifth-set aces.
 
Junior outside hitter MARISSA SCARPA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) contributed a career-high 18 digs with nine kills. It was her fifth double-digit dig performance of the season and 21^st of her career. Freshman outside hitter COURTNEY CALLAHAN (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy), making her third career start, made that coaching decision pay dividends with a career-high seven kills (7-3-29, .138) and six digs. Junior opposite ASHLEY LATUSHKO (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) finished with nine digs, six kills, two aces and two blocks.
 
For R-N, Gordon led the Scarlet Raiders with 14 kills (14-7-33, .212) and four assisted blocks. Freshman setter Emilie Pulecio (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) delivered 25 assists, 20 digs and two aces in a part-time performance in a 6-2 rotation. Freshman right side/setter Chrissy Campanelli (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic) dished 17 assists and 15 digs and hit .333 with six kills (6-1-15) while finishing with four aces and two blocks in an all-around effort. Freshman libero Kathy Hormaza (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) defended 30 digs.
 
Also for the guests, freshman outside Adrianna Pagnotta (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) tallied nine kills (9-6-30). Freshman outside Veronica Chau (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) chipped in 16 digs and seven kills.
 
"I'm very, very proud of the attitude and intensity we showed tonight," said second-year head coach Ray Vance, who collected his first NJAC victory. "The team worked very hard and played to win which is a big step in our evolution as a team. Jade had a monster match offensively and was dominant at times. Shege was solid in the middle and our outsides Missy and Courtney really did a great job in serve receive and both offensively and defensively."
 
"Our defense has gradually improved and tonight we executed our system really well which was a major difference in our ability to keep rallies going. Jessica and Cindy were both excellent on defense and serve receive. We have a tough tournament this weekend in Cazenovia but hopefully we can take our momentum from tonight and use it to propel us into the remainder of our schedule."
 In a first set with strong offensive efforts for both sides, there were 13 ties and six lead changes, NJCU had 13 kills versus four errors (.220, 41 attempts). R-N finished with 12 kills, hitting .132 in the game. NJCU led 16-14 before R-N rallied for an 18-16 margin and after two more ties, regained a 21-19 edge on a kill by Chau. The Raiders continued to lead 22-20 before NJCU had its first comeback of the night. An R-N ball handling error and a Haxhaj kill tied it at 22-22. After an R-N kill made it 23-22, Latushko and Callahan recorded back-to-back kills and took the period, 25-23, on a Raider attack error.
 
R-N turned on the offense in taking the second set. The Raiders floored 16 kills and hit .270 in the game (16-6-37) and limited the Knights to nine kills. The Knights fell behind 18-12 and 20-16 before twice narrowing the deficit to one—21-20 and 22-21. But a block by Gordon, a kill by Chau and an ace by Hormaza gave R-N a 25-21 win.
 
In the third set, NJCU had a 12-11 edge in kills as the clubs traded nine ties and four lead changes. Midway through the game, NJCU led, 19-17, but committed four consecutive attack errors to hand the Raiders a 21-19 lead. NJCU closed the gap to 21-20 before stealing the game, 25-22, thanks to several late errors.
 
The Raiders looked on their way to a 3-1 win when the visitors jumped in front 6-0 and 8-1 in the fourth set. But NJCU battled through the sluggish start to close within two, before falling down by four, 16-12. The Raiders led 19-16 and were six points away from victory. But a combo block by Medley and Latushko followed by an ace by Latushko ignited a 5-0 comeback before Medley slammed back-to-back balls to give NJCU a 21-19 edge. R-N regained a 22-21 cushion after an ace and NJCU attack error. But Medley put away another kill, and then teamed with Leon for a block and a 23-22 edge. An error by R-N and a Scarpa kill clinched a 25-22 win. NJCU had a 12-6 advantage in kills in the game and limited R-N to a
-.070 attack rate.
 
In the final set, NJCU hit .273 and slammed nine kills against three errors. The Knights had an early lead, 4-2, before R-N grabbed a 6-5 edge. But from there, NJCU unleashed an 8-0 run to seal the win. A kill by Callahan, Perez ace, and four consecutive kills by Medley made it 11-6. Perez uncorked another ace for a 13-6 differential and NJCU pulled away, 15-8.
 
NJCU hits the road on Friday morning for Cazenovia, NY where it will play in the Dig Pink Tournament, hosted by Cazenovia College. On October 11, NJCU faces Nazareth College and Elmira College, with Saturday contests against MCLA and host Cazenovia.
 
Vance summarized the win by saying: "We talked at practice yesterday and before tonight's game about playing to win and focusing on execution. We did both in spades tonight. The first conference win is huge for the program as we work towards rebuilding our program to again become a perennial playoff team which can compete for NJAC championships in the coming years which is where we want to be. It's a long road but you need the first win to get there."