BRONXVILLE, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) delivered 32 assists and hit .571 with four kills (4-0-7) and three aces as the New Jersey City University women's volleyball team wrapped up its 2015 season and 33rd campaign with its second road sweep of Sarah Lawrence College this year—a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) decision on October 30 at Noves Court. The set scores in the second and third games were identical to those from the encounter on September 8.
 
NJCU caps its season with a 12-15 overall ledger, winning two of its final three outings. Sarah Lawrence fell to 3-23.
 
The Gothic Knights produced a commanding 41-13 differential in kills and hit .281 as a team (41-16-89) while limiting the Gryphons, members of the Skyline Conference, to an -.036 attack (13-16-84).
 
After hitting .088 in game one with 13 kills, NJCU turned up the offense in the next two sets, hitting .381 in the second (11-3-21) before putting away 17 kills at .412 clip in the third (17-3-34).
 
Behind McIntyre, who set at a .405 percentage, freshman outside Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) floored a career-high 10 kills, hitting .316 (10-4-19) while freshman libero Georgina Rayo (Jersey City, NJ/McNair) dished 17 digs and hit .600 from the back row with four kills in five swings (one error).
 
Freshman Elizabeth Danco (North Arlington, NJ/North Arlington) chalked up a career-high seven kills without an error, hitting .467 (15 attempts) in just two sets as a reserve.  Rookie middle hitter Diana Trochimowicz (Linden, NJ/Linden) came off the bench to add an .833 attack rate with five kills and no errors in six attempts. Rookie outside/opposite Ayleen Pittar (Union City, NJ/Union City) had 11 digs, junior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) stuffed four blocks in two sets and junior middle Elyssa Magee (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) collected five kills in two games. Senior defensive specialist Valerie Ballestas (North Bergen, NJ/Weehawken) served three aces in her final collegiate match.
 
CJ Kelley was the top player for the Gryphons with a solid line of seven service aces, five kills (.286, 5-1-14), six assists and five digs.
 

NJCU trailed 9-8 in game one before scoring six of the next seven points. With SLC within one (15-14), the Knights unleashed the next three kills with back-to-back winners by O'Donnell and another by Magee before Ballestas fired aces on three of the next four points to push the margin to 23-15.
 
NJCU used an 8-2 stretch early in the second set to open up a comfortable lead—Haxhaj had a block, kill and two aces during the spurt. NJCU scored the first five points of game three, then capped the year with five consecutive points to seal the match.
 
Of Note:

• NJCU leads all-time series, 6-0 (6 sweeps).
• NJCU won the initial meeting on September 8, 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-17).
• Georgina Rayo notched 10+ digs in a match for the eighth time this year and third match in a row.
• Ayleen Pittar tallied double digits in digs for the second time in 11 matches and 27 sets since joining the team on October 9.
• Rachel McIntyre finished her second season fifth in program history with 1,254 assists in 197 sets.
• Shege Haxhaj finished her junior season with 550 kills. She is 14th in program history and only 83 shy of the top 10.
• Amber O'Donnell's previous high for kills was eight kills against CCNY on October 3.

 
Quotable Knights:
Head Coach Robert Cole (second season): "It's always great to end on a winning note. Our goal is always to play better as the year goes on and I think we did, at times. We're looking forward to a couple weeks off to heal up and do some self-evaluation. The coaching staff is going to evaluate the entire program and see where we can improve. We'll continue to get after it on the recruiting trail and bring in quality individuals as we build this program. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Thanks to Val Ballestas for all her hard work and dedication to the program. We're better off for having her on the team."