New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score 1 BOX SCORES: NJCU vs. Yeshiva | Kean vs. Mount
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athletes, JUSTIN BEAUMONT and Gary Preston, Jr.

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University, led by 12 kills and a .647 percentage from reserve outside hitter BILL LE (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder), never trailed in any set and cruised past Yeshiva University, 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-21) in the opening match of a Skyline Conference Quad hosted by NJCU on April 7 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
NJCU improved to 19-13 on the season and 8-4 in the league and officially clinched the No. 4 seed in the four-time Skyline Tournament on April 13. The Gothic Knights also improved to 25-0 all-time against the Maccabees (10-17, 0-12 Skyline), all via sweeps. Yeshiva had its six-match winning streak snapped.
 
NJCU utilized most of its reserves in a starting role and the Knights hit .425 as a team with 44 kills (44-10-80). Yeshiva finished with 18 kills as a team.
 
Le, who started for the fifth time this season and had just 26 kills in 18 matches this year coming in, never had more than four kills in a match in his career in any previous contest. Le smashed 12 kills and hit .647 with just one attack error (12-1-17). Freshman outside hitter NICK POH (Richmond, VA/Varina (VA)) pelted the Maccabees with a .727 attack percentage and nine kills in 11 swings (one error) while rejecting two solo blocks.
 
Also for the Gothic Knights, junior setter GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD)) dished 27 assists and freshman JONATHAN FONT (San Sebastian, Puerto Rico/Patria Latorre Ramirez) contributed 13 assists and was 3-for-3 on attack in two sets.
 
Freshman opposite KENDALL TRIBBETT (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hit .625 with five kills and no errors (eight attempts) in just one set of action, adding three aces. Rookie middle hitter DAQUE WILCOX (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech)  hit .667 with four kills and no errors (six attempts) adding two solo blocks. Sophomore outside hitter BESMIR ARSLANI (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley), the reigning Skyline Player of the Week, only played a handful of points in the third set, yet uncorked four service aces in six attempts.
 
For Yeshiva, junior middle blocker Menachem Goldstein (Chicago, IL) had half of the club's kills, finishing with nine kills and a .294 percentage (9-4-17). No other player had more than three kills. Freshman setter Jorge Dabah (Miami, FL) had 16 assists and five digs.
 
NJCU hit .476 in the opening set and had a 13-4 margin in kills, jumping out to a decisive 11-1 lead and pushing it to 20-5 before prevailing by 17. It was the third time this season NJCU has held an opponent to single-digits in points in a regulation set. Le had four kills in six swings (.667) while Font (3-0-3) and Poh (3-1-5) each added three winners.
 
In set two, the Knights had a 16-4 differential in kills and hit a collective .353, led by Tribbett's five kills in eight swings (.625) and Le's five kills in seven attempts (one error, .571). Preston had 14 assists in the period. Leading 7-5, NJCU scored 10 straight points to open up a 17-5 lead before cruising by nine, 25-16.
 
In the final set, Poh was perfect on attack with six kills in six swings while Wilcox provided four kills (.667) and two blocks while Font landed 11 assists. Margolis had six kills and hit .500 (6-2-8). NJCU hit .480 and had a 15-10 margin in kills (15-3-25). Yeshiva was able to draw within one point in the final set three times—15-14, 16-15 and 17-16—before the Knights scored six of the next seven points for a 23-17 edge, and won, 25-21.
  NJCU hosted its second Skyline Quad of the season, and Kean University, ranked #14 in the latest AVCA Division III Top 15 Poll, cruised past the College of Mount Saint Vincent, 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-11). Kean (22-7, 12-1 Skyline) extended its winning streak to 10 straight; Mount fell to 6-20 (3-9 Skyline).
 
Kean, which trailed just once during the match, was led by freshman Krzysztof Kucza (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) with eight kills and a .583 percentage (8-1-12) while reigning Skyline Player of the Year and senior outside hitter  Steve Vahalla (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) finished with six kills and a .455 percentage (6-1-11). Freshman setter Josh Haimann (Whitehouse, NJ/Hunterdon Central) dished nine assists in two sets and landed five of Kean's 10 aces.
 
The Cougars hit .338 as a team (32-10-65) and limited Mount to a negative attack rate at -.060 (19-23-67). Junior middle hitter Gerard Fraser (Staten Island, NY) had nearly half of the Dolphins' kills hitting .600 with seven winners (7-1-10). Sophomore setter James DiGiovanni (Bay Shore, NY) tallied 18 assists for CMSV.