New Jersey City University Athletics

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BRONXVILLE, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In a match-up of tournament undefeated teams that ultimately decided the championship of the Sarah Lawrence College Invitational, Manhattanville College rebounded from a first set loss and defeated New Jersey City University, 3-1 (29-31, 25-22, 25-22, 25-16), in match three of the weekend for the Gothic Knights on September 22.
 
Manhattanville (11-5) went 4-0 in the tournament. The loss for NJCU (3-8) dropped the Knights to 2-1 on the weekend.
 
In defeat for NJCU, senior libero CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) was outstanding, defending a match-high 25 digs—equaling her career best in the category—for her 37^th career effort of double-digit kills and eighth time exceeding 20 digs in a contest. She added five kills against one error (14 attempts, .286) and two aces.
 
Freshman middle blocker SHEGE HAXHAJ (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) had nine kills against only two error to hit .269 (26 attempts). Junior middle hitter JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic) finished with 10 kills (10-10-44, .000) and five blocks (four assists). It was her 17^th career effort of double-digit kills and fourth of the season.
 
Also for NJCU, junior setter MADELYN LEON (West New York, NJ/Memorial) provided 29 assists, six digs and four kills (4-1-10, .300). Junior opposite ASHLEY LATUSHKO (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) tallied 14 digs. Junior MARISSA SCARPA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) contributed 10 digs and three aces.
 
Three players reached double figures in kills for the Valiants, led by senior outside hitter Susy Camaj, who was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player. She finished with a double-double of 12 kills (12-5-36, .194), 12 digs and six service aces. Freshman outside Alissa Primavera, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team, posted a match-high 16 kills (16-6-55, .182).
 
Also for M-Ville, setter Megan Quinabo dished a double-double of 35 assists and 15 digs. Alyssa Taylor collected 13 kills (13-7-33, .182) and four aces as the top three attackers for the Valiants combined for 41 of their 46 kills. Defensively, Alyssa Casino had 18 digs and Veronica Ferreiras added 16 digs.
 
In an opening set that went the distance and then some, NJCU hit .268 and tallied 15 kills (15-4-41). There were 10 ties and five lead changes in the game. M-Ville led 22-19 before NJCU stormed back to tie on a kill by Scarpa and back-to-back winners from Leon. The teams would trade seven more ties before Scarpa and Medley sealed the win with kills on the 30^th and 31^st points.
 
M-Ville hit .294 and .250 as a team in the second and third sets to gain a 2-1 lead in the match. M-Ville led 24-18 in the second set before NJCU fought off four set points, with Haxhaj landing back-to-back kills. A ball-handling error ended the game.
 
There were eight ties and six lead changes in the third period. NJCU trailed, 20-16 before scoring six of the next seven to claim a 22-21 advantage after an ace followed a combo block by Medley and Scarpa and a Medley kill. But the Valiants scored the final four points to steal the set and grab a 2-1 lead. NJCU never led in the fourth set and hit -.152 in the period with 10 attack errors (five kills).

"The team played a great match against Manhattanville and were very competitive," noted second-year head coach Ray Vance. "A few plays the wrong way cost us the match but overall, it was one of our better matches this season as a whole. We had a tremendous comeback to win game one. We just dug holes in each of the last three games that were a little too big to overcome."