New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights feature, MARISSA SCARPA

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University posted its second highest team attack percentage against a New Jersey Athletic Conference opponent this season, but Rowan University used its considerable size to its advantage, utilizing a .347 team attack percentage to cruise to a 3-0 (25-18-25-16, 25-13) conference victory over the Gothic  Knights on October 29 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
Rowan (22-8, 7-1 NJAC) led the entire match without being tied once and collected its ninth consecutive win. The Profs will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NJAC Tournament and receive a bye into the conference semifinals. NJCU ends the NJAC season with a 1-7 ledger, falling to 6-26 overall. The Knights have dropped 13 straight matches.
 
In defeat, rookie middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) notched her fourth double-digit kills effort of the season, hitting .364 with 10 kills and two errors (22 attempts), while stuffing two blocks (one solo). NJCU hit .119 behind her (22-12-84).
 
Rowan had a 46-22 advantage in kills and made just 12 attack errors in 98 attempts, led by the setting  of freshman  Rebecca Dantonio (Glen Mills, PA/Garnet Valley), who dished 36 assists in 73 attempts for a .493 setting percentage.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Havlicek (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) hit .383 with 10 kills (10-2-21). Sophomore 6-foot-0 middle hitter Morgan Mende (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) had a match-best 11 kills, hitting .250 overall (11-4-28). Senior outside Kirsten Sciolaro (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) had seven kills without an error on eight swings to hit a scintillating .875 while chipping in six assists.
 
Also for Rowan, senior outside Elaine Hansen (Monroe Township, NJ/Monroe Township) hit .308 with six kills (6-2-13) and four aces. Senior right side Dakota Oeskovic (Pine Beach, NJ/Toms River South) had five kills and hit .364 (5-1-11) in two sets while freshman outside Erica O'Hagan (Cedar Grove, NJ/Cedar Grove) posted a .444 rate in one set, finishing with five winners (5-1-9).
 
Rowan used 13 players. Senior defensive specialist Lauren Ruffalo (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) had 10 digs and two aces. Senior libero Casey Grasso (Wilmington, DE), a five-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week, upped her career dig totals to 1,172 with eight in the match.
 
NJCU received six kills and two blocks from junior middle hitter JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic), who played on the outside most of the match.  Junior setter MADELYN LEON (West New York, NJ/Memorial) collected 18 assists.
 
Junior outside hitter MARISSA SCARPA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) defended a match-high 11 digs and senior libero CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) provided 10 digs—leaving her 35 shy of becoming the ninth player in school history to reach the 1,000 digs milestone and just the second to do so in a three-year career.
 
Rowan had 16 kills in the first two sets, hitting .324 and .328 respectively, before putting 14 balls away in the third game for a .333 rate. In set one, NJCU had seven kills and kept it close midway through the game, trailing 11-10, before the Profs opened up a 16-11 margin and prevailed by seven.
 
The visitors scored the first eight points in game two and led 11-1 before cruising to a 2-0 lead. Rowan was not challenged after the midway juncture of set three and scored the final five points of the night.
 
NJCU will host a non-conference tri-match on Friday, November 1, at 4, 6 and 8 p.m., including matches against SUNY Old Westbury and Catholic University, before concluding the season on Saturday in the NJCU November Quad.