New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES (Inside-the-Athlete feature, JESSICA PEREZ)

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Rookie libero JESSICA PEREZ (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) and junior outside hitter MARISSA SCARPA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) each uncorked six service aces as New Jersey City University landed 20 aces as a team and NJCU earned its first women's volleyball victory of the season with a convincing sweep of John Jay College, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-14) on September 3 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center on 'Coach Charlie Brown Court.'
 
NJCU (1-4), making its 2013 home opener, hit .306 collectively on attack and snapped a nine-match losing streak dating to the end of the 2012 season. John Jay (0-1) was making its 2013 debut. All 16 NJCU players who dressed saw time in the contest.
 
Perez had a 1.000 serving percentage, landing six aces in 16 attempts without an error while contributing a match-high six digs. Scarpa had six aces in 15 attempts, while adding three kills (3-0-10) at a .300 rate with six digs. Sophomore setter SINIA AMANONCE (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) contributed an additional three aces.
 
Offensively, junior middle hitter JADE MEDLEY (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic) continued to perform well to open the season, smashing eight kills in 10 attempts (one error) for a stellar .700 attack percentage. Rookie middle hitter SHEGE HAXHAJ (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) also put away eight kills, hitting .294 (8-3-17) with a pair of service aces. Medley and Haxhaj each had one solo block.
 
Also for NJCU, senior setter CINDY GARCIA (West New York, NJ/Memorial) delivered 21 assists in 50 attempts (.420). NJCU had a 28-17 advantage in kills and only committed nine errors in 62 swings.
 
John Jay's top player was senior opposite Martina Hot with seven kills and a .294 percentage (7-2-17). Junior setter Katherine Bonilla added 15 assists and five digs and sophomore libero Perla Pozo added four of the Bloodhounds' seven aces.
 
NJCU never trailed in the first set when it hit .333 as a team with nine kills (9-2-21) and landed five aces. Medley was a perfect 4-for-4 on attack in the period while Haxhaj hit .571 with four kills (no errors) in seven attempts.
 
In the second set, NJCU floored eight more aces—six coming off the hands of Scarpa and the team collected 10 kills. The Knights jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the third set and cruised to the 25-14 win by hitting .438 in the game with nine winners (9-2-16). Seven more aces—four by Perez and three by Amanonce—helped seal it. Rookie outside COURTNEY CALLAHAN (Bayonne, NJ/St. Dominic Academy) had three kills in four attempts (.750) in the set while Haxhaj added three kills in five swings (.400).
 
Second-year head coach Ray Vance said: "our serving and middle attack were definitely our strong points tonight. We served at a higher percentage with good location which kept them out of system most of the night. Our middles were very efficient and continue to develop. Our outsides had good ball control and hit efficiently as well. We are still working on improving our serve receive and defensive responsibilities and that will help us to take the next step to build the program we are building here. This is a great group of young women who are stepping into different roles with some early season injuries. I'm very proud to work with these young ladies and thank them for all their dedication and hard work."  

NJCU is idle until Wednesday, September 11 when it hosts Cedar Crest College and the College of Staten Island in a rare mid-week tri-match, beginning at 5 p.m. at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.