Gothic Knight Insights interviews (Robert Cole, Marissa Scarpa, Jade Medley)

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior outside hitter Marissa Scarpa (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) hit .571 with a near double-double in three sets to pace a well-rounded attack in which five players had at least five kills as New Jersey City University rallied for its third consecutive win, knocking off non-conference foe Farmingdale State College, 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-19) on October 9 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
 
Trailing 24-20 in the second set, NJCU (5-13) staved off four set points to even the match at 24-24, and a fifth set point at 25-24, to rally for a 27-25 positive result. While avoiding a 2-0 deficit in the match, the Gothic Knights scored seven of the final eight points to deflate the Rams (8-16) balloon, and cruised in the third and fourth sets when the hosts secured big leads and didn't look back.
 
Scarpa hit .571 with nine kills and only one attack error in 14 swings and defended 10 digs with a pair of blocks. Senior middle hitter Jade Medley (Queens, NY/Hudson Catholic) put away 10 more kills and two solo blocks while hitting at a .240 pace (10-4-25). Senior right side Ashley Latushko (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) defended a match-best 15 digs and chipped in four kills as all three tri-captains played an important role in the outcome.
 
Also for NJCU, New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) delivered 35 assists in 93 attempts for a .376 percentage. Freshman right side Kira Vasconcelos (West New York, NJ/Memorial) finished with seven kills and sophomore middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) landed six kills and two blocks.
 
Senior middle hitter Indigo Hatcher (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln) came off the bench to finish with five kills and three blocks in key moments. NJCU hit .171 as a team with 45 kills (45-25-117) and stuffed seven blocks.

The Rams had three players collect seven kills apiece—Barbara Wright, Maia Cadle-Hinton and Karen Ulysse, while setter Gina Giacalone tallied 26 assists, 10 digs and four service aces. Francesca Calderon defended 12 digs. Cadle-Hinton also chipped in four blocks (two solo).
 

Farmingdale jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match after taking a first set that featured nine ties and three lead changes. With NJCU up, 13-12, the Rams scored the next five points, aided by a block and a kill by Cadle-Hinton. NJCU got as close at 20-18 before FSC scored the next three points to pull in front, 23-19, en route to taking the set by five.
 
In the second set, 12 ties and four lead changes led to the late rally for NJCU that massively swung the momentum in the match. Tied at 18-18, Giacalone uncorked aces on three of the next four points for a 23-18 advantage and FSC was on the verge of a 2-0 lead when an NJCU attack error made it 24-20. With the set in their hands, the Rams committed a service error and Haxhaj solo blocked Giacalone, who was whistled for a double contact on the next point. Still in front, 24-23, a lift on an attack by FSC tied it at 24-24. NJCU committed a service error, putting the Rams back on top, 25-24.
 
But NJCU's perseverance pulled the club through. Vasconcelos and Haxhaj combined for a block to even it at 25-25. A well-placed tip kill by Medley put NJCU ahead for good, 26-25, and on NJCU's set point, Vasconcelos unleashed a wicked cross-court kill from the outside for the 27-25 win.
 
Set three was not nearly as close as NJCU hit .233 with 11 kills (11-4-30) and never trailed after gaining an 8-2 advantage. After FSC pushed the deficit to one following a pair of kills from Wright and Amanda Masson each, NJCU used a 6-1 run to extend the differential to 17-11. Back-to-back kills by Hatcher accounted for the 24^th and 25^th points as NJCU put the Rams away for a 2-1 lead.
 
NJCU slammed 16 kills and hit .364 on 33 swings (four errors) in the fourth set. With the Knights clutching a 10-8 lead, a kill on an overpass by sophomore outside Elyssa Magee (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) and three consecutive winners by Scarpa made it a 14-8 margin. NJCU took advantage of several Ram miscues to extend the lead to 20-11 and closed out the win on a putaway by Scarpa into the back corner.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Robert Cole (first season; third year with program):
On what was the difference in the comeback: "We had some players step up in some pretty key positions for us. Indigo Hatcher I thought was a real difference maker. She was able to run a bit of a quicker tempo in the middle and gave us some active blocks. The court movement was much better defensively. We actually started making our serves later on [in the match] and we were just playing with more confidence."
 

TEAM STAT COMPARISON
	NJCU	FSC
Score:	3	1
Attack Percentage (K-E-TA):	.171 (45-25-117)	.033 (35-31-120)
Kills:	45	35
Assists:	38	29
Service Aces:	2	10
Digs:	48	38
Total Blocks:	7.0	4.0
Points:	54.0	49.0

"The team confidence is at an all-time high. Hopefully we're peaking at the right time as we get to the middle and end of our schedule. We have to keep working hard; we have to have a great day of practice tomorrow and we'll see what we have on Saturday against a couple of good teams."
 
Senior tri-captain Marissa Scarpa:
On what was the difference in the comeback: "Most of the time we beat ourselves which is why I think we've been losing a lot this season but in the sets that we do win we work together, we pick each other up, and we don't think about the mistakes we just made—we just fix it. The confidence of the team is definitely improving. Hopefully it's just up from here."
 
On her performance: "honestly, I think it's the best I've ever played. I definitely wanted to win and it showed."
 
OF NOTE:

• NJCU leads the all-time series, 9-5.
• Jade Medley reached double digits in kills for the 35^th time in her career and 10th time this season.
• Medley increased her career totals to 1,019.5 points, 868 kills and 177 blocks (104 solo). She needs 132 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.
• An opponent landed 10 or more aces for the 15^th time this season.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU will play in a non-conference tri-match in Dallas, Pa. on Saturday, October 11, facing Alvernia University in a neutral court contest and host Misericordia University at 12 and 2 p.m., respectively. NJCU returns home for back-to-back NJAC home matches on October 14 and 16 against Kean University and Rutgers University-Camden.