BALTIMORE, MD (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University played two competitive non-conference women's volleyball matches on September 13 but was unable to come up with its first win of the season as NJCU lost a neutral court match to Hood College, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-23) before falling to host Notre Dame of Maryland University, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22).
 
NJCU dropped to 0-8 on the season. The Knights were facing Hood (3-5), a member of the MAC Commonwealth Conference, for the first time while meeting Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) foe Notre Dame (3-4) for just the second time.
 
The two losses spoiled outstanding efforts by senior outside/middle hitter Jade Medley (Queens, NJ/Hudson Catholic), who had match highs in kills in each contest and finished with 21 kills (21-10-47), a .234 attack percentage and three blocks on the day. She exceeded the 750 kills plateau for her career (762).
 
Hood 3, NJCU 0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-23)
NJCU played two tight sets against the Blazers but were ultimately done in by its serve reception and attack errors as the Knights were aces 12 times and committed 25 hitting miscues.
 Medley slammed a match-high 11 kills (11-7-23) with six digs and hit .174. Sophomore middle Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) collected six kills and two aces while sophomore outside Elyssa Magee (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) had a .444 percentage with five kills.
 
Senior Marissa Scarpa (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) set in the first period and finished with 11 assists and six digs. Freshman setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hills, PA/Upper Darby) delivered 13 assists and two aces in two sets.
 

For the Blazers, Elizabeth Hawkesworth hit .462 with seven kills (7-1-13) while Kathryn Jones dished 12 assists and four service aces. Kelsey Ritner, the lone New Jersey product on Hood's roster (Barnegat) defended nine digs. Hayley Rogers hit .500 with five winners (5-1-8).
 
NJCU had 12 kills in the first set and 14 in the third. Trailing most of the first set, NJCU staved off two set points at 24-21 with kills by Medley and senior right side Ashley Latushko (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) before Ritner's winner clinched the set, 25-23.
 
Hood opened up leads of 5-1, 8-2 and 14-5 in the second set to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. The Knights used offense to remain alive in the third and led 15-9 but couldn't hold on. Ahead 23-22, a kill by Rogers, an ace and a double block accounted for the final three points as Hood prevailed again, 25-23.
 
Notre Dame (Md.) 3, NJCU 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22)
In the second match, Medley hit .292, slamming 10 kills (10-3-24) with three blocks and Haxhaj chipped in a .313 attack rate with nine kills (9-4-16). But the rest of the squad had eight kills and 14 errors on 54 attempts (-.111) and NJCU again dropped a pair of tight games.
 McIntyre finished with 20 assists and seven digs while Scarpa defended 10 digs and Latushko delivered nine digs and four aces. Magee had six of NJCU's eight remaining winners.
 
The Gators were boosted by its serving game as the Knights were aced 14 times. Taylor Manger was responsible for half the damage, landing seven aces. Cleaya Antes defended 14 digs. Ashley Pasker of Newark, NJ (University) led Notre Dame with 10 winners (10-4-21, .286) and two blocks. Setter Jamie Reyes had 22 assists, nine digs and two aces. Marylu Ortiz chipped in four aces.
 
Both teams hit negative in the first set and Notre Dame gained the lead at 7-6, before opening up several five-point differentials in the middle of the game and won, 25-19.
 
In game two, NJCU trailed 18-13 before uncorking a 9-1 run to claim a 22-19 advantage behind three kills and two aces by Haxhaj and two winners from Medley. Medley hit .800 in the set (4-0-5) and Haxhaj had a .571 rate (5-1-7). But the Gators responded, scoring six of the final seven points of the set, highlighted by three consecutive aces by Manger against three different NJCU passers before winning, 25-23.
 
NJCU had leads in the middle of the third set and when the Gators did move in front, the Knights were able to shave deficit to one at 20-19, 21-20 and 22-20. But back-to-back kills by Bobbi McDowell and Grace Park gave the hosts a 24-21 lead and ND clinched the match on a bad set.
 
"Individual and team efforts were much better today," noted first-year head coach Robert Cole. "We had better execution at times but we've got a long way to go to become more consistent. Conference matches will start a new season for us."

NJCU will play the first home match of the season on Tuesday, September 16 at 7 p.m. when it meets William Paterson University in the 2014 New Jersey Athletic Conference opener at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.