Box Score 1 | Box Score 3 JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |  Sometimes the best recipe to break out of a losing funk is to face teams that are also struggling. The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team had lost five of its last six matches, but erased those memories with two overwhelming wins on October 3, shelling Purchase College, 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-9) before completing the non-conference tri-match with a 3-0 sweep (25-13, 25-18, 25-12) of the City College of New York. Both matches were played at NJCU's John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
NJCU, playing its fourth non-conference weekend tri-match of the season and first at home, upped its overall record to 8-7. CCNY, which swept Purchase (0-12) in the middle of three matches, 3-0 (25-21, 29-27, 25-12), is now 4-17 after the split.
 
Junior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) needed 18 kills to become the 15th player in school history with 500 for a career and she notched exactly 18, with nine in each match. Haxhaj posted an attack line of 18 kills, only two errors and 31 attempts, good for a .516 attack percentage on the day.
 
Meanwhile, sophomore setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby), who entered the day with 988 assists in her young career and 13th in Division III in service aces, became just the fifth player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career assists. She finished the day with 56 total assists—exactly 28 in each match—and eight more aces.  
 
Match 1: NJCU 3, Purchase 0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-9)
In only the second meeting between the schools, NJCU hit .286 (31-13-63) as a team and uncorked 17 service aces in the convincing win over the Skyline Conference opponent in just 55 minutes.
 
McIntyre had a near triple-double, finishing with a .500 setting percentage—28 assists in 56 attempts—nine digs and seven aces. She eclipsed the 1,000-assist threshold in the second set—the 157th she has played in for NJCU.
 
Haxhaj hit .438 with nine kills (9-2-16) and two blocks (one solo). Freshman middle hitter Nadia Montgomery (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) saw extensive action and hit .625 with six kills (6-1-8) and freshman Elizabeth Danco (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) landed three aces. Freshman outside hitter Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) had four kills in eight swings (one error, .375).
 
The Panthers, which dropped its 24th consecutive match, hit -.019 with only 11 kills. Alex Lally had nearly half of that total with five tallies (5-3-14, .143).
 
Tied at 3-3 in the opening set, sophomore libero Jacqueline Romero (West New York, NJ/Memorial), who defended nine digs in the win, served 11 consecutive points as NJCU reeled off a combined 12-0 run to claim a 15-3 margin. NJCU floored five consecutive kills in the middle of the spurt, including three in a row by Haxhaj.
 
Tied at 15-15 in game two, a combo block by Haxhaj and O'Donnell followed by kills by each player, pushed the lead to 19-15 and Montgomery added back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 24-19.
 
NJCU had a 77 percent sideout percentage in the third set (7-9) and hit .412 in the game (10-3-17). NJCU never trailed in the game.
 
Match 2: CCNY 3, Purchase 0 (25-21, 29-27, 25-12) | Box Score
CCNY put away 28 kills—14 from middle hitter Angela Ubanwa who hit at a .379 rate (14-3-29)—and the Beavers staved off a pair of set points in the second game to sweep the neutral court match. Magd Zamzam delivered 25 assists and three aces and Irishvarsha Iyyadurai landed eight of CCNY's 17 total service aces. Victoria Blum had 10 digs for Purchase, which was held to a -.049 attack percentage (15-18-61).
 
Match 3: NJCU 3, CCNY 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-12)

NJCU and CCNY first met in 1983 when the Gothic Knights launched their first intercollegiate volleyball program. Now in its 33rd season of existence, NJCU and CCNY have managed to split all 32 matches in that timeframe. But of late, it's been a one-sided rivalry.
 
NJCU led wire-to-wire in the first and third sets and behind a .600 attack percentage and nine kills by Haxhaj (9-0-15), swept the Beavers in just 61 minutes.
 
Romero defended a career-high equaling 14 digs and did not have a reception error in 18 attempts. McIntyre dished 28 assists and put away three kills in six tries (.500).
 
O'Donnell had eight kills (8-4-22, .182) and seven digs while freshman outside Georgina Rayo (Jersey City, NJ/McNair Academic) hit .357 with six kills (6-1-14) and a career-best equaling 10 digs. Junior middle hitter Elyssa Magee (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) was 3-for-3 on attack (1.000) and had two blocks in limited time.
 
Brigitte Bozer had nearly half of CCNY's 17 kills, hitting .467 with eight winners (8-1-15) and six digs and Ubanwa finished with six kills. Iyyadurai had three aces for CCNY but the Beavers were never competitive in the match.
 
NJCU had a 71 percent sideout rate in the opening set and an 11-4 margin in kills. NJCU scored the first four points, led 8-2 and used a 9-1 run in the middle of the set behind the serving of Romero and McIntyre to leave no doubt.
 
In the second set, NJCU led early 8-4 before the Beavers countered with a 7-0 run behind the serving of Iyyadurai to claim an 11-8 margin. It led 13-10 before NJCU answered with a decisive 12-2 outburst to move ahead 22-15. Haxhaj and McIntyre both caught CCNY with a pair of kills during that stretch and NJCU had 13 kills in the game.
 
The Knights put away 14 kills in game three and hit at a collective .345 (14-4-29), scoring the first five points of the set before using an 8-0 streak in the middle of the game to pull away.
 
Of Note:

• NJCU leads the all-time series with Purchase, 2-0. The only other meeting was also a 3-0 win on September 12, 2009 in Mahwah, NJ.
• NJCU and CCNY's all-time series is even at 16-16 since first meeting in 1983. NJCU has won the last three meetings.
• Georgina Rayo reached double figures in digs for the second time in her career (9/5/2015 at Rosemont).
• Jacqueline Romero's 14 digs marked her third double-digit kills effort this season and fifth of her career. She also had 14 digs in four sets against Keystone on October 25, 2014.
• Senior libero Valerie Ballestas (North Bergen, NJ/Weehawken) did not play.

 
What's Next?:
NJCU plays its fourth straight home match on Tuesday, October 6 when it hosts York College (NY) at 7 p.m. in a non-conference contest. NJCU leads the all-time series, 14-1, and has won 13 consecutive meetings since 1991. The clubs last met on September 11, 2012 in Jamaica, NY; NJCU won, 3-1 (24-15, 25-18, 23-25, 26-24).