JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | All 14 available Kean University players saw considerable action in a well-rounded effort as KU remained in second place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference women's volleyball standings with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-15) win over New Jersey City University on October 14 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
 
Kean (12-11, 4-1 NJAC) won for the sixth time in seven matches to remain one match behind Stockton for first place in the league. NJCU (5-16, 0-5 NJAC) dropped its third straight following a three-match winning streak.
 
Kean only trailed for one series of plays in the match and was never behind in the first or third sets while hitting at a .292 pace. The Cougars had a 39-24 advantage in kills and committed nine fewer attack errors (20-11).
 
Senior middle hitter Jade Medley (Queens, NY/Hudson Catholic) was NJCU's most efficient offensive weapon again, finishing with a match-best nine kills and a .292 percentage (9-2-24) to up her career kills total to 887.
 

TEAM STAT COMPARISON
	NJCU	KEAN
Score:	0	3
Attack Percentage (K-E-TA):	.047 (24-20-86)	.292 (39-11-96)
Kills:	24	39
Assists:	23	33
Service Aces:	2	7
Digs:	40	40
Total Blocks:	2.0	4.0
Points:	28.0	50.0

Senior outside hitter Jen Espinal (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) was one of only two Cougars to play in all three sets and finished with a team-high eight kills. Freshman outside Calli Scheuermann (Kenilworth, NJ/Roselle Catholic) also played all three sets. She had nine digs and six kills, hitting .263 (6-1-9). 
 
Sophomore Alix Denison (Fort Collins, CO) hit .400 with seven kills (7-1-15) in two games. Junior Nicollette Poveromo (Dumont, NJ/Dumont) had a nice effort off the bench, finishing with eight assists and four kills in seven swings (.571). Freshman setter Kendall Sonico (Los Angeles, CA) and senior setter Alana Aranjo (Newark, NJ/Science Park) combined for 16 assists.
 
No other NJCU player had more than four kills. One-time NJAC Rookie of the Week, setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) provided 20 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of her freshman campaign. Senior right side Ashley Latushko (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) defended nine digs and landed four kills.
 
Kean had 11 kills in the first set (11-4-42) and jumped out to a 5-1 lead before going up by 10 early in the period (14-4). The Cougars added two more kills to their totals in the each of the next two games, hitting a colossal .417 (13-3-24) in the second set. After six early ties in the set—the last at 8-8—Kean uncorked a 9-1 run to claim a 17-9 advantage and was never challenged from there.
 
The Cougars slammed 15 kills in the final game and hit .367 (15-4-30). After NJCU tied it at 11-11, Kean scored six of the next seven points for a 17-12 advantage. When NJCU closed within three (17-14), the Cougars scored eight of the final nine points to win by 10 (25-15).
 
OF NOTE:

• Kean leads the all-time series, 32-7 and has won the last five meetings. NJCU last won, 3-2, in 2009.
• Medley increased her career totals to 1,029.0 points, 887 kills and 178 blocks (104 solo). She needs 113 more kills to become the fourth Gothic Knight with 1,000 career kills—a milestone she is on pace to reach. Sarah Torres (2005-08) with 961 kills is next on the all-time list.
• Kean senior outside hitter Aysia Peterson, just one kill shy of 1,000 for her career, was the only Cougar who did not play.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU will play its second straight NJAC match on Thursday, October 16 when it hosts Rutgers University-Camden. NJCU is off this weekend and next plays on Tuesday, October 21 at six-time defending NJAC champion Stockton.