New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete, ELICIO OLIVARES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore outside hitter BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) unleashed at least 25 kills in a match for the fourth time in his career and third time this season and senior setter/opposite JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) was one dig shy of a triple-double as New Jersey City University picked up yet another signature victory, rallying past Hunter College, 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 31-33, 25-19, 15-10), in a non-conference  men's volleyball match on March 26 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
Arslani joined Hall-of-Famer Satsay Thongvichith as the only players in the 24-year history of the NJCU program to post 25 or more kills in a match four times in a career and Arslani became the first to accomplish the feat three times in the same season.
 
NJCU won its 17^th match (17-11) and knocked off a Hunter (11-11) squad that reached the NCAA Division III's inaugural Final Four in 2012 and was ranked No. 14 in the 2013 national preseason poll.
 
NJCU and Hunter traded 17 ties and six lead changes in a monumental third set that saw the Hawks survive in overtime, 33-31, but the Gothic Knights converted the disappointment from that loss into dominant performances in the fourth and fifth sets when the hosts trailed just once. The Knights won their fourth consecutive match that extended to five sets (4-1 this season).
 
“It was a really nice win against a solid team,” said first-year head coach Ray Vance. “The team played well in system but had to fight through some struggles with blocking and serve receive errors. We showed for the most part the quality of team we can be, which is always great to see. We really got after it defensively and made really solid adjustments against them to slow down their primary scorers. Bez was an offensive force and Justin was really solid all around. Kendall [Tribbett] and Hamza [Elsammak] were very strong at the net and Daque [Wilcox] was solid offensively and blocking. Those three are key players with our team for years to come. We are really doing a lot of things better and have come a long way through a lot of adversity and injuries this season.”
 
Arslani hit .333 with 25 kills (eight errors, 51 attempts) while adding 10 digs, three blocks (one solo) and two service aces. He reached the 20-kill plateau for the 11^th time in his career and the sixth time in his last 10 matches. He posted the 38^th double-digit kill effort in 53 career matches (.717) and the 14^th time in 22 matches this year Arslani also posted a match-high in kills for the 32^nd time in his career and notched his 10^th career double-double.
 
Beaumont nearly registered his third career triple-double while playing in a 6-2 rotation, finishing with 37 assists, 14 kills (14-6-41, .195), nine digs, four blocks (three solo) and two aces with a .514 setting percentage and registered his 24th career double-double and seventh of the season while rookie right side KENDALL TRIBBETT (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional)  floored nine kills and hit .300 (9-3-20) with two blocks.
 
Freshman outside hitter NICK POH (Richmond, VA/Varina (VA)) provided his fourth double-digit dig effort of the season, finishing with 12 digs and seven kills. Senior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) dished 17 assists. Also for the Knights, rookie middle hitter DAQUE WILCOX (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech) hit .364 with five kills (5-1-11) and two blocks and rookie middle HAMZA ELSAMMAK (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) stuffed five blocks (two solo) and hit .500 with three kills (3-0-6).
 
“Gary [Preston] ran a great offense today NICK POH did a really nice job all around,” commented Vance. “Elicio [Olivares] and AJ [Flores] really stepped up as well. We have a tough test Saturday against NYU and next Tuesday against New Paltz as both teams are ranked in the AVCA Top 15.”

Hunter was led by three-time CUNYAC Player of the Week and junior setter Stanley Martinez (Bayside, NY) with 50 assists, five digs, four aces and three blocks while junior outside Matthew Ng (Bayside, NY) landed a team-high 19 kills, hitting .256 (19-9-39) with 14 digs.
 
Freshman middle blocker Alexandru Barbulescu (Bucharest, Romania) hit .452 with 17 kills versus three errors (31 attempts) and added a pair of blocks and senior middle Braien Otsla (Brooklyn, NY) finished with a double-double of 12 kills (12-8-31, .129), 10 digs, four blocks and two aces. Sophomore outside Nino Hot (Bar, Montenegro) had nine kills for the Hawks.
 
In a match where NJCU hit .268 and totaled double digits in kills in every set, the Knights set a nice tone in the opening period when it floored 11 winners and jumped out to leads of 6-1, 13-4 and 16-9 before pushing the margin to 20-12. Hunter, the CUNYAC's second place team at 10-1 overall, would rally, using a 9-2 run to pull within 22-21 after a pair of Knight attack errors. Arslani put a ball away for 23-21 before Otsla answered for 23-22. But Beaumont put away a kill for 24-22 and Poh and Wilcox teamed on a double-block of Otsla on set point, 25-22. Arslani had four kills in the set while Tribbett was 3-for-3; Ng was 3-for-4 for Hunter while Barbulescu added three kills.
 
Hunter hit .375 to take the second set, landing 12 kills (12-3-24). The Knights had 11 kills in the set, led by Beaumont with four (4-1-6, .500) while Arslani had three kills on six swings (one error, .333). Barbulescu was a perfect 4-for-4 while Hot matched his name, tallying three kills in four attempts. NJCU led 8-7 before the Hawks used a 9-1 run to stake a 16-9 lead and evened the match at one-set apiece.
 
The third set was an offensive fight and nail-biter. Hunter powered down 22 kills and hit .300 (22-7-50), led by Ng with nine kills (9-3-16, .375) and Barbulescu with a .667 percentage and five kills (5-1-6). Meanwhile, Arslani put away eight kills for NJCU, which hammered 18 kills in the set and Beaumont finished with 10 assists and five kills in the period.

Trailing 24-22, NJCU rallied to tie it at 24-24 on a Tribbett kill and a double block by Elsammak and Arslani. The teams proceeded to trade ties at 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31, with some scintillating volleyball and long rallies in between. Arslani came on strong, pounding kills for points 26, 27 and 28—each time giving NJCU set point before Hunter staved off a loss with winners by Otsla, Martinez and Ng. Hunter took a 30-29 lead on a solo block by Hot before Beaumont tied it at 30-30 with a kill. Ng and Poh traded kills at 31-31 but Hunter scored the final two points on Arslani attack errors, including a set-clinching block by Otsla and Martinez after the three-time Skyline Conference Player of the Week had punished the Hawks for 31 previous points.
 
For NJCU, the third-set loss actually provided the spark to dominate the final two periods. NJCU put down 13 kills in the fourth set with just one attack error (30 swings) for a .400 percentage, and Hunter had 10 attack errors on 13 kills (.086). Arslani clobbered six kills and hit .357 in the game. Hunter got six kills (.444) from Otsla and a four by Barbulescu (4-0-8, .500). But midway through the set, NJCU began to pull away. Leading 14-12, Hunter committed four straight errors, including one caused by a solo block from Wilcox and NJCU led 18-12. A Wilcox kill and Beaumont solo rejection elevated the lead to 21-13, and the Knights capped the period with Arslani's 21^st kill of the night for a 25-19 win.
 
In the decisive fifth set, NJCU never trailed, hitting a colossal .428 as a team with 10 kills while earning 12 of the 15 points in the set on its own merit. Hunter was limited to five kills. Arslani was 4-for-4 on attack and Beaumont hit .333 with three more kills as the Knights never trailed. Leading 5-4, NJCU reeled off a 5-1 spurt to claim a 10-5 cushion. Arslani accounted for four of NJCU's first six points with kills and a winner by Beaumont made it 10-5. Hunter tried to rally and drew within 11-9 on a kill by Barbulescu. But Beaumont landed a kill for 12-9 and NJCU scored the final four points of the set. On match point, Poh's serve trickled along the tape and fell onto Hunter's side of the court for a clinching ace.
 
NJCU will face one of its stiffest tests of the season on Saturday March 30 when it heads to New York City to challenge #11 ranked New York University at the Coles Sports Center.