New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE: NJCU vs. Penn State-Behrend
BOX SCORE: Gallaudet vs. Lehman
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete features: JORDON CASILLAS, JONATHAN FONT, DONELL GEE and KENDALL TRIBBETT

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University senior outside hitter JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) equaled the 11^th most kills in a match in school history with 24 but Penn State University-Behrend survived five match points in the fourth set and outlasted the Gothic Knights, 3-2 (25-15, 21-25, 29-31, 31-29, 15-8), in the second match of a six-match, non-conference quad hosted by the Gothic Knights on February 23 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
A pair of freshmen had outstanding performances in defeat as outside hitter NICK POH (Richmond, VA)/Varina (VA)) posted his first career double-double with career highs of 18 kills and 14 digs while middle hitter DAQUE WILCOX (Camden, NJU/Camden County Tech) slammed 13 kills just one match after notching a career high 10 winners on 10 attempts.
 
The loss snapped NJCU's three-match winning streak and drops the Knights to 8-6. Behrend (7-7) improved to 2-0 at the NJCU Quad. It was the first-ever meeting between the schools; the Lions are a second-year program competing in the challenging United Volleyball Conference.
 
Behrend hit .253 as a team and had four players in double figures in kills, posting 65 as a team versus 25 errors (158 attempts). NJCU had the differential in kills (67) but 13 more errors (38) and hit .166 on 175 swings. The Lions stuffed a combined 15.0 blocks.
 
Beaumont posted his 15^th career double-digit kill performance and obliterated his previous career high of 16 kills during a First-Team All-Skyline Conference junior campaign. He added eight digs, five assists and two blocks.
 
Poh, who reached double figures in digs for the third time in his young career, hit .170 with a career-high 18 winners, and distributed a career-best 14 digs with two blocks. He had entered the day with just 26 kills in the first 12 matches of his career and had never had more than six kills in a match—with exactly six kills in each of NJCU's last three matches.
 
Wilcox posted a .333 percentage with a career-best 13 kills (13-5-24) and four assisted blocks while senior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) distributed a career-best 51 assists at a .340 clip (150 attempts)—18 more assists than his previous high, while adding eight digs.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman libero JON DIAZ (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) defended a career-high in digs in consecutive matches and posted a team season high with 18. . Freshman middle/opposite HAMZA ELSAMMAK (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) hit .190 with seven kills (7-3-21) and freshman opposite KENDALL TRIBBETT (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) rejected four blocks.
 
The Lions received a team-high 19 kills (19-7-48, .250) by junior outside hitter Grant Kocher (McMurray, PA), who nearly had a triple-double, collecting 11 digs and seven blocks (six assisted). Junior outside Nathan Steele (Cranberry Township, PA) hit .364 with 14 kills versus two errors (33 attempts), adding nine digs, and freshman middle hitter Tyler Karl (Nazareth, PA) chipped in 13 kills, hit .320 (13-5-25) and rejected six blocks (five assisted).
 
Also for PSU-Behrend, freshman middle hitter Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA) tallied 10 kills (10-5-20, .250) with four blocks and two aces. Kocher, Steele, Karl and Oertly combined for 56 of the school's 65 kills.
 
Junior setter Colin Ingram (Hilliard, OH) dished 32 assists and 10 digs and senior setter Evan Fullerton (Ambridge, PA) finished with 23 assists and two blocks.
 
The first set was all Behrend as the Lions hit .450 and used a 12-10 margin in kills to prevail by 10 points. The Lions never trailed as Grant hit .500 with four kills in the game. Beaumont had four kills for NJCU.

“The team is really coming together and working well in the system. I am very excited for the coming weeks with the second round of Skyline matches and some matches against nationally-ranked team like Hunter, Stevens and New Paltz.”
  
Momentum changed in set two as NJCU unleashed a 16-kill attack and hit .323 as Beaumont and Poh each put away five winners in tying the match. Grant had five of the Lions' 11 kills in the set. After NJCU took an early lead, the hosts held leads of 15-11 and 20-15. PSU got within two points at 16-14 and 23-21, before Elsammak smashed down an over ball to clinch the set.
 
In the first of two sets that required extra points—and then some—to decide a winner, NJCU edged the Lions in kills, 17-16. Poh exceeded his career high in kills in just one set, putting away seven winners on 13 swings (one error) for a .462 percentage while Beaumont registered six kills; Grant had five for the guests.
 
In a set with 15 ties and five lead changes, NJCU led 19-15 before a 5-0 run allowed the Lions to claim a 20-19 edge. NJCU scored the next two, and the Knights held leads of 22-21 and 23-22 on a Preston kill going over on one, and a Beaumont back three attack. PSU tied it each time at 22 and 23. Poh gave NJCU set point, tooling a block for 24-23 before a service error forced extra points. Poh slammed the second of three consecutive kills for leads of 25-24 and 26-25 but winners by Steele and Oertly would even it at 26-26. The Lions gained a 27-26 when Karl put away a ball in the middle after a bad Gothic Knight pass. PSU served an error but reclaimed a 28-27 cushion on a ball handling error. But Beaumont responded with a smash from the outside and Wilcox and Beaumont teamed for a block and a 29-28 lead. Kocher tied it with a kill for 29-29, but he committed consecutive errors—first on a serve, then an attack on a ball that sailed long, as NJCU outlasted the Lions, 31-29.
 
In the fourth set, the teams traded nine ties and two lead changes. The Lions put down 20 kills in the set (20-7-52) while the Knights tallied 18. Wilcox hit .556 with six kills (6-1-9) in the game while Beaumont and Poh had five kills apiece; Karl floored six shots for the guests with Oertly hitting .500 (5-1-8) and Steele providing five kills and a .333 percentage (5-0-15).
 
The Lions had a 12-7 lead and owned advantages of 15-11 and 16-12 before the Knights assembled a 7-1 run to claim a 19-17 margin. Beaumont had two kills and a block during the initial run and the Knights extended the lead to 22-18 and the streak to 10-2 on back-to-back PSU attack errors. Three straight errors by NJCU allowed PSU to claw within one, 22-21, before Poh tooled a block (23-21). Oertly tied it at 23-23 with consecutive kills as the Lions fought back with a 5-1 run. Beaumont gave NJCU its first match point, 24-23, before Steele tied it. Poh and Oertly traded kills and later Wilcox and Karl and Wilcox and Steele did the same as the Lions used their offense to prevent a pair of match points and tied it at 26, 27 and 28. Oertly was part of a double block that gave the guests a 29-28 edge before Karl committed an error. But Steele floored back-to-back kills—the final one caroming off the raised basketball backboard above the court that NJCU was unable to keep in play after a touch, to send the match to a fifth set after a 31-29 win.
 
In the final set, each team had six kills but PSU only committed two errors, hit .308, and never trailed in the period. The Lions opened up leads of 4-1 and 7-4 before NJCU rallied to draw within one, 7-6, and was down just two, 9-7, after Beaumont put away his 24^th winner. But the Lions posted back-to-back blocks—first a combo by Oertly and Ingram, before Karl and Kocher teamed up, and Oertly landed an ace for a 12-7 lead. PSU's fourth straight point, a winner from Kocher, made it 13-7. A Karl kill and NJCU attack error ended the match, 15-8.
  Lehman (5-4) evened its record in the NJCU Quad while dropping the first-year Gallaudet program to 0-8. The 26 points in set three are a program record for the Bison (previously 22).
 
Lehman was led by senior middle blocker Brian Francisco (Bronx, NY) who hit .357 with 15 kills (15-5-28), seven service aces, six digs and four blocks while junior outside hitter Ahmad Abugharbieh (Yonkers, NY) had five blocks (two solo) and senior setter/middle blocker Luis Colon (Bronx, NY) finished with 21 assists. Junior outside hitter Manuel Bonilla (Bronx, NY) tallied eight digs, six kills and two aces. Lehman held a 28-18 margin in kills. The Lightning never trailed in the second set.
 
The Bison received a .385 attack percentage by sophomore middle hitter Eric Setzer (Middletown, MD) with six kills (6-1-13) and freshman libero James Wilson (Tucson, AZ) defended 10 digs while landing a pair of aces.