New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

PROVIDENCE, RI (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University sophomore outside hitter BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) rang up at least 20 kills in a match for the eighth time in his career and third time in the last five matches as the Gothic Knights swept Daniel Webster College, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-20) in the opening match of the 2013 Wildcats Invitational hosted by Johnson & Wales University at the Wildcat Center on March 15.
 
NJCU (14-9) and Daniel Webster (10-9) were meeting for the first time in their histories and played a fairly even offensive match with each club posting 39 kills. The Knights hit .305 (39-10-95) while the Eagles committed six more errors and hit .291 (39-16-79).
 
Arslani had more than half of NJCU's kills, powering down 20 kills while committing just three errors in 38 attempts for a .447 attack percentage, while adding five digs, two aces and one solo block. The reigning Skyline Conference and ECAC Division III Player of the Week had seven kills in the first set when he hit .545 (7-1-11), seven kills in game two (7-1-16, .375) and six winners in set three for a .455 accuracy rate (6-1-11). He posted the 34th double digit kill effort of his career in 48 career matches (.708) and the 10th time in 17 matches this season while posting a match-high in kills for the 28^th time in his career.
 
Senior JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) started at setter and provided 35 assists in 74 attempts for a .473 percentage while rejecting three blocks.
 
Freshman middle blocker DAQUE WILCOX (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech) hit .333 with six kills (6-2-12) and two blocks while sophomore middle blocker IVAN PRENSA (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) contributed four blocks and three kills. Rookie opposite KENDALL TRIBBETT (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hit .300 with four kills (4-1-10) and two blocks while freshman outside NICK POH (Richmond, VA/Varina (VA)) added five kills and five assists.
 
DWC sophomore outside Joel Hendrix (Kane'ohe, Hawaii) led the Eagles with 17 kills and a .480 percentage (17-5-25), adding two blocks while freshman setter Ariel Frias (Lawrence, MA) delivered 33 assists.
 
Senior Casey Monahan (Shelton, CT) defended nine digs. Three other players had at least five kills, led by freshman middle blocker Tyler Little (Marlboro, MA) with five kills, two blocks and a .364 percentage (5-1-11). Junior outside Joe Walz (East Longmeadow, MA) had six kills, five digs and three blocks (two solo).
 
In a match in which each team put away double figures in kills in each set, DWC had a 17-12 advantage in set one as the teams traded five ties and three lead changes. The Eagles led 17-14 and 19-16 before NJCU managed to tie it at 19-all. The Eagles moved ahead 21-19 on a Hendrix kill and a Hendrix/Little block, 22-20 on another Hendrix kill, and 23-21 when Walz floored an attempt. But NJCU hung tough and scored the final four points of the set—Prensa put away a ball before the Eagles committed back-to-back errors as NJCU claimed a 24-23 edge and that set up Arslani for a game-clinching kill.
 
In set two the schools again played to a 25-23 result. Hendrix, who hit .556 with seven kills in set one (7-2-9), posted a .500 clip in game two with six winners (6-1-10) and the clubs traded nine ties and three lead changes—but all before the midway point in the period. NJCU held a 15-12 margin in winners and opened a three-point lead after a 13-13 tie before pushing the advantage to 24-20. A kill by Little, an NJCU attack error and an ace allowed the Eagles to draw within one, 24-23, before Prensa and Beaumont combined for a block on Walz on set point.
 
In game three, the Knights had a dozen kills and trailing 8-4 early, uncorked a 9-1 run to take a 13-9 lead. The Knights extended the lead to 21-16 and prevailed by five points in the final game.