New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEW YORK, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore outside hitter BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) put away 12 kills but No. 11 ranked New York University held New Jersey City University to a -.025 attack percentage as the Violets swept NJCU, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20) on March 30 in a non-conference men's volleyball match at the Coles Sports Center. It was the first meeting between the schools since February 1998.
 
NJCU, facing the first of two consecutive nationally-ranked opponents, fell to 17-12 overall. NYU, ranked No. 11 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Top 15 Poll, and as high as seventh nationally this year, dropped to 12-12 against top competition. The Violets stuffed 10.0 total blocks in three sets and hit .229 as a team with a 40-21 margin in kills.
 
Other than Arslani, the rest of the NJCU lineup could muster just nine kills versus 16 errors on 53 attempts (-.132).
 
Arslani hit .179 with 12 winners (12-7-28), 10 digs, and two service aces while notching his 11^th career double-double. He posted the 39^th double-digit kill effort in 54 career matches (.722) and the 15^th time in 23 matches this year.
 
Senior setter/opposite JUSTIN BEAUMONT (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) had five of the other seven kills and dished 11 assists. Junior libero A.J. FLORES (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) and sophomore defensive specialist BILL LE (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) combined for 15 digs.
 
NYU received a dominant performance from 6-foot-5 freshman outside hitter Colin LaPorte (Manhattan Beach, CA) with a match-best 14 kills and .250 attack percentage (14-7-28), adding three blocks and sophomore libero Andrew Quirk (Laguna Niguel, CA) defended 15 digs. Junior setter Connor Mortland (San Diego, CA) distributed 29 assists in 72 chances (.403), adding three blocks and three kills (3-0-6, .500).
 
Also for the Violets, senior outside hitter  George Koch (Seneca Falls, NY) put back six blocks (one solo) and landed five kills (5-3-11, .182) and two aces. Junior 6-foot-6 middle blocker Nick Capriccio (Huntington Beach, CA) hit .400 with five kills (5-1-10) and three blocks while senior opposite Karl Johnson (Carlsbad, CA) provided six kills and hit .364 (6-2-11). Freshman outside Keith Waddell (Manhattan Beach, CA) chipped in eight digs, six kills and two blocks.
 
NYU had 13 kills in the first set and hit .241 (13-6-29), while NJCU was limited to a -.077 percentage in the period. NJCU led 11-6 early before NYU rallied with an 8-1 run to gain a 14-12 advantage and began pulling away. Leading 18-15, NYU scored four in a row for a 22-16 edge before winning the game by seven, 25-18. Arslani hit .429 in the game for NJCU with four kills (4-1-7). LaPorte had four kills and Capriccio had three kills in four swings. Five NYU players collected at least two kills in the set.
 
The Violets never trailed in the second set and hit .357 as a team with 13 kills (13-3-28), led by LaPorte with a .625 percentage with six kills on eight tries (one error). Trailing 21-11, NJCU made it interesting, using a 9-2 run to pull within three, 23-20, following an ace by Beaumont after Arslani served seven consecutive points, including a pair of aces. But a kill by local product and freshman outside Phil Bueno (Edison, NJ/Saint Joseph (Metuchen)) and an Arslani attack error accounted for the final two points.
 
In a competitive third set with 10 ties and six lead chances, NYU had 14 kills and NJCU, behind five kills and a .364 percentage from Arslani (5-1-11), put away eight kills and hit in positive territory. Five NYU players had at least two kills in the game. NYU trailed, 14-12, before unleashing a 7-0 run behind the serving of Waddell, to gain a 19-14 margin and NJCU couldn't draw closer than three the remainder of the set.
 
NJCU faces perhaps its most difficult opponent of the season and its fourth nationally ranked opponent in its last six matches on Tuesday, April 2 at 7 p.m. in a non-conference home match against #6 ranked SUNY New Paltz at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.