NEWARK, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team opened its 26th season of action at the Golden Dome Invitational on January 31, splitting its two matches while achieving a program record in the process. The Gothic Knights couldn't solve the blocking ability of host Rutgers University-Newark in the opener, falling 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-9) before routing Brooklyn College, 3-0 (25-3, 25-7, 25-18) in the second match.
 
The three points by Brooklyn in set one is the lowest opponent scoring total in a standard rally-scoring set in school history in a non-forfeited game in either the current 25-point format (2011-present) or the previous 30-point format (2001-10).
 
MATCH 1: Rutgers-Newark 3, New Jersey City 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-9)
 Rutgers-Newark (1-5) never trailed at any point in the match and stuffed 14.5 points en route to the win in the first meeting between the schools since the Scarlet Raiders completed the transition from a Division I volleyball program to Division III.
 
Newark hit .413 with 36 kills (36-10-63) while limiting NJCU to a -.077 attack percentage (16-21-65).
 
Sophomore middle hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) had five kills and hit .273 (5-2-11) in the opening loss while rookie setter John Leon (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala) had 13 assists.
 
Nick Kuti had seven blocks (two solo) and Cody Chidsey hit .615 with nine kills (9-1-13), three blocks and two aces to lead the Scarlet Raiders. Jose Mendez had seven kills at a .455 pace (7-2-11). Corey Pieper added 15 assists, six digs, five blocks, four kills and two aces. Jack Fredericks finished with four blocks and a .571 attack rate (4-0-7). Kevin McCandless gave out 13 assists and two aces.
 
MATCH 2: New Jersey City 3, Brooklyn, 0 (25-3, 25-7, 25-18)
NJCU (1-1), which never led in the opening match, never trailed in second contest in a dominating win over Brooklyn (0-5). 
NJCU hit .345 as a team with 27 kills (27-8-55) in a well-rounded offensive effort that saw veterans and newcomers both accumulating impressive numbers. The Bulldogs were limited to an abysmal -.206 attack percentage (9-22-63).
 
Freshman middle hitter Andre Ghant (Newark, NJ/North 13th Street Tech) had a solid performance, putting away balls at a .750 percentage with six kills and no errors (eight swings). Freshman setter Eric Maldonado (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) dished 18 assists with six digs, three aces and two blocks (two solo).
 
Also for the Knights, freshman middle hitter Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) had five kills (.375, 5-2-8) and two blocks in two sets and freshman outside Tijani Rezki (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) finished with four kills (.375, 4-1-8) and four service aces. Graduate student libero A.J. Flores (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) defended nine digs.
 
Kevin Bautista had nine digs for Brooklyn. Rudy Zhao collected six of the opponents' nine kills and two aces but committed 10 attack errors.
 
In the record-setting opening set, NJCU scored the first 10 points and held leads of 14-1 and 21-2 before scoring the final four points. NJCU hit .524 in the opening game with 12 kills and only one attack error on 21 swings.
 
The Knights vaulted out to a 13-1 lead in the second set, scoring 11 consecutive points in the process and again held a substantial 21-4 differential. A quick 7-1 lead in the third set clinched the sweep.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Robert Cole (second season)
On the opening loss to Rutgers-Newark: "I was disappointed that we didn't play our best today. We were out of system too often and we did get the opportunities; we didn't run our offense effectively. But credit goes to Rutgers; they've got a tremendous team."
 
On the convincing win over Brooklyn: "We played clean volleyball in the first set and a half. We just executed our offense and played well defensively. Our young guys got a chance to see the floor for an extended period of time and they did some things they can build upon. Wins are never guaranteed and getting one on opening day is a great feeling."
 
OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Rutgers-Newark: RUN leads, 3-0.
• Series vs. Brooklyn: NJCU leads, 22-0.
• The previous low opponent total in a 25-point set was six (25-6) by Gallaudet on February 23, 2013 in Jersey City (set 1).
• In the previous 30-point rally-scoring format (2001-2010), the lowest opposing set totals were:
  • 30-4 (Yeshiva University at NJCU, Feb. 1, 2001)
  • 30-5 (Yeshiva University vs. NJCU, Feb. 27, 2003)
  • 30-6 (Baptist Bible College vs. NJCU, April 1, 2004)
• Brooklyn's -.206 attack percentage was the lowest by an opponent in the 25-point rally era. The last time an opponent had a lower attack percentage was Medgar Evers on Feb. 1, 2009 when it hit -.290 with only four kills (4-13-31).
• Closing in on the 400th win in school history, NJCU improves to 397-342 in 739 all-time matches.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
On Tuesday, February 3, NJCU will play the first match of a 12-match home schedule at 7 p.m. when it hosts Lancaster Bible College in non-conference action.
 
Series: NJCU leads, 6-2. NJCU won the last meeting, a neutral-court meeting on March 8, 2014 in Jamaica, Queens, NY, 3-0 (30-28, 25-20, 25-14).