New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

JAMAICA, QUEENS, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Lancaster Bible College hit .267 as a team and did not trail in the first and fourth sets as the Chargers upset New Jersey City University, 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-16) in the fourth and final match of the York College Men's Volleyball Classic on March 9 at the York College Gymnasium.
 
NJCU (13-9) lost the final two matches of the tournament to finish with a 2-2 mark, including 1-2 on day two of the event. Lancaster Bible (10-7) snapped a five-match losing streak to the Gothic Knights.
 
In defeat, NJCU sophomore outside hitter BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) was named to the All-Tournament Team after compiling 73 kills, 37 digs and 11 blocks in 16 sets, averaging 5.44 points, 4.56 kills, 2.31 digs and 0.69 blocks per set, including two matches of 20+ kills.
 
Arslani had a match-high 19 kills (19-12-45, .156) and defended 11 digs with two blocks in recording his ninth career double-double and third this weekend. He posted the 33^rd double digit kill effort of his career in 47 career matches (.702) and the ninth time in 16 matches this season while posting a match-high in kills for the 27^th time in his career.
 
After playing setter the first three matches of the tournament, senior JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) moved back to the outside and finished with 11 kills (11-4-38, .184), six digs and two blocks. Senior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)), this week's Skyline Conference Player of the Week, delivered 40 assists (.377, 106 attempts), six digs and three aces.
 
Also for the Knights, junior libero A.J. FLORES (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) defended 11 digs. Freshman opposite KENDALL TRIBBETT (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) finished with seven kills and hit .214 (7-4-14) and sophomore middle blocker IVAN PRENSA (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) had six kills (6-2-15), a .267 percentage, and three blocks (two solo).
 
Three players had exactly 10 kills apiece for the Chargers. Senior outside hitter Mitchell Demko (Slatington, PA) and sophomore outside Miles Herron (Toto, Guam) each posted a .412 percentage with an identical line of 10 kills, three errors and 17 attempts and junior setter Alex Bahn (Seven Valleys, PA) had a double-double of 10 kills (10-3-21), a .333 hitting percentage, 25 assists, seven digs and four blocks.
 
Also for LBC, junior libero Andy Nguyen (Lancaster, PA) defended 13 digs, junior middle blocker Joey Brennen (DuBois, PA) had six blocks (two solo) and five kills and senior outside Keith Mitzel (Lincoln, DE) finished with a .385 percentage (5-0-13).
 
LBC led the entire opening set, despite NJCU having four more kills (12-8) and Arslani hit .455 with seven kills (7-2-11) in the period. LBC made up for the lack of offense with five service aces and jumped out to a 10-3 lead. The Chargers led 18-14 and 19-16 before the Knights rallied to tie it at 19 behind an Arslani kill, a solo block by Prensa and an Arslani ace. A kill by Mitzel and an ace by Brennen gave LBC back the lead and a block made it 23-20. Two kills by Beaumont sandwiched around a pair of Charger attack errors cut the deficit to 24-23 before Herron had a kill on set point, 25-23.
 
NJCU never trailed in the second set to tie the match at 1-1. The Knights slammed 20 kills in the set and hit .395 (20-5-38) to overcome 13 kills and a .407 attack rate by LBC (13-2-27). Arslani paced the way hitting .231 with seven kills (7-4-13) while Beaumont hit .571 with four winners (4-0-7). Tribbett hit .500 with four kills (4-1-6). NJCU didn't lead by more than four points and the Chargers kept it tight, drawing within one at 15-14, 17-16, 18-17 and 19-18. But the Knights ran off four of the next five points behind two kills from Arslani and a Beaumont winner. Leading 23-20 kills by Arslani and Wilcox sealed the set, 25-22.
 
LBC bounced back offensively in the third set with a 10-5 margin in kills and the Knights committed nine attack errors, hitting -.129 as a team. The Knights led early, 14-9 and maintained an 18-16 advantage before the Chargers scored six consecutive points to claim a 22-18 differential; the Knights committed four errors during the streak. In all, LBC scored nine of the final 12 points and prevailed by four points, 25-21, on a Herron winner.
 
In the final set, LBC put the match away with offensive accuracy, hitting .542 as a team with 15 kills and only two errors (24 attempts) while the Knights tallied 10 kills at a .069 rate. Arslani, who had no kills and five errors in the third set, bounced back with a .400 percentage and five kills (5-1-10) in the period. But Bahn was a perfect 4-for-4 on attack for LBC and Herron was 3-for-3 to pace the Chargers. LBC held a 9-6 lead before uncorking seven straight points to open a 16-6 advantage and cruised to the nine-point win, 25-16.
 
NJCU will be idle most of next week during spring break before returning to action on Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16 in the Johnson & Wales University Invitational in Providence, RI. The Knights will face Daniel Webster College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, host Johnson & Wales, and nationally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the four-match event.