New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights, Gary Preston, Jr.
SENIOR DAY PHOTO GALLERY

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The Sage Colleges led 10-5 in the fifth set, only to watch the New Jersey City University men's volleyball storm back to force an 11-11 tie. But the Gothic Knights committed four consecutive errors—including three double blocks by Sage—and the Gators scored the final four points to overcome NJCU's comeback and steal a key road Skyline Conference match, 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 15-11) on April 2 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center ('Coach Charlie Brown Court').
 
Tied at 11-11, sophomore outside hitter ANGEL MARTINEZ (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville), who equaled a career high with 12 kills, was called upon, but was thwarted by three blocks by Sage sophomore setter Matthew DeGeyter, who teamed with senior middle hitter Shane Gaffoor for a 12-11 lead and senior middle hitter Connor Thompson for the 13^th and 15^th points, including the winner. NJCU was also called for going under the net during the final sequence.
 
The loss is a critical one late in the season for NJCU (10-15, 6-5) which falls into a tie with Sage (7-15, 6-5 Skyline) for the league's fourth and final bid into the conference tournament on April 12. NJCU, which defeat Sage in three sets on March 1, still owns the tiebreaker over the Gators based on games differential should they end the year deadlocked in the standings. NJCU fell to 1-3 in five-set matches this season, losing its last three in that scenario.
 On Senior Day, NJCU's lone senior, setter and captain GARY PRESTON, JR. (North East MD/Rising Sun (MD) registered his third career double-double and second straight while reaching the 50-assist plateau for the third time in his career and second time as a senior. Preston delivered 50 assists in 123 sets—a .407 percentage—while dishing 11 digs.
 
Three-time Skyline Rookie of the Week and freshman middle hitter SHELDON COURE (Torrance, CA/Redondo Union (CA)) pounded out 19 kills and hit .394 (19-6-33) while stuffing a career-high seven assisted blocks.
 
Meanwhile, junior outside hitter BILL LE (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) continued to play at an exceptional level late in his first year as a starter. Le notched all three kills for NJCU during its fifth-set comeback bid and finished with a career high 15 winners while hitting a staggering .462 (15-3-26) with 10 digs for his first double-double. He continued his torrid play, hitting above .400 for the third time in four matches and over .300 for the fifth time in six outings.
 
Also for NJCU, Martinez put away 12 kills (12-9-32, .094) with six digs and four blocks. Sophomore opposite KENDALL TRIBBETT (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) finished with five blocks (two solo) and seven kills. Sophomore libero JON DIAZ (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) collected eight digs.
 
Sage senior outside Dylan Krowicki, this week's Skyline and ECAC South co-Player of the Week, planted a match-high 20 kills but committed 10 errors, while hitting at .233 (43 attempts). He finished with a double-double, providing 10 digs and five blocks (three solo). DeGeyter tallied 49 assists and four blocks—three in the final four points of the match.
 
Also for the Gators, Thompson was outstanding, hitting .441 with 18 kills (18-3-34), seven digs and six blocks. No other Sage player had more than five kills as Krowicki and Thompson combined for 38 of their team's 54 winners.  Senior libero Cory Gransbury defended a match-high 14 digs.
 
The first three sets all ended with the same result—a 25-23 score. NJCU took the opener, although Sage hit .370 as a team with 14 kills (14-4-27)—one more than the NJCU, which hit .310 with 13 kills (13-4-29). There were 11 ties and three changes in the game, including Krowicki's sixth kill of the opening period to make it 22-22. After an NJCU error, Martinez tied it with a winner and Le added a putaway before Le and sophomore middle blocker DAQUE WILCOX (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech) stuffed Krowicki on set point.
 
Sage put away 17 kills in the second set to overcome 10 attack errors, with Krowicki slamming nine kills—giving him 15 through two sets. NJCU had 12 winners but only four errors in a game that had eight more ties and three lead changes. Tied at 20-20, Thompson and Krowicki had back-to-back kills. Coure made it a one-point game before Thompson tipped a ball to an open spot for a 23-21 advantage. NJCU twice cut it to one on shots from Martinez and Coure, but each time Krowicki responded, tying the match with two more winners.
 In the third game, seven ties and four lead changes ensued. NJCU had a 12-10 edge in kills. Thompson led Sage with six kills; Coure equaled that total for NJCU. The Knights trailed late, 23-21, before Tribbett crushed a ball in the middle and Le had a clever tip kill on an over ball to even it at 23-23. But once again Sage countered when it mattered. After an NJCU service error, Krowicki and Zach Sullivan clinched the set with a block of Coure.
 
NJCU forced a fourth set with a 25-19 win, as the Knights put away 17 kills and hit a scintillating .577 in the period with only two errors. Martinez was the prime weapon for the Knights, slamming eight kills, including three of NJCU's final four points with a 21-17 lead. NJCU had opened a larger lead at 19-12 with a 7-1 run after Sage had pulled within 12-11.
 
But in the fifth set, Sage won the see-saw battle. NJCU scored the first three points and led 4-2 before the Gators went on an 8-1 run to claim a 10-5 advantage. Each team hit negative in the period—NJCU at .250 and Sage at -.200. But the Knights committed 12 attack errors to account for 80 percent of Sage's points. In fact, seven of the eight points scored by Sage during the run were based off of attack errors and the eighth point was an NJCU ball-handling error. After a timeout, Sage committed two errors and trailing by three, Le put away back-to-back sets to make it 10-9. After Sage scored, Le had another kill and a Sage attack error tied it at 11-11 before the final four-point swing gave the visitors the decision, 15-11.
 
NJCU plays in the final Skyline Quad of the season on Sunday, April 6 at 12 and 2 p.m. when it faces #13 Kean University and Yeshiva University, the host team, in New York, NY.