STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Five Gothic Knights put away at least five kills and New Jersey City University's men's volleyball team hit a collective .333 as a team in notching its third consecutive win, a 3-0 (25-15, 25-7, 27-25) decsion over the College of Staten Island on February 5.
 
NJCU upped its record to 3-1 while facing the first-year Staten Island (0-3) program for the first time. NJCU had a huge 43-16 differential in kills, stuffed eight blocks and limited CSI to a -.072 attack percentage (16-21-69) in its first-ever home match.
 
Junior opposite Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hit .636 with eight kills and only one error (11 attempts) while stuffing three blocks and freshman middle hitter Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) attacked at a .462 rate with eight winners (8-2-13). Junior outside hitter Nick Poh (Richmond, VA/Varina) put away seven kills in 11 swings, hitting .455.
 
Freshman setter Eric Maldonado (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) dished 25 assists in three sets to pace the offense while rookie setter/right side John Leon (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala) dished eight assists and hit .500 (4-1-6) in only two sets.
 
Also for the Knights, sophomore middle hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) hit .375 with five kills (5-2-8) and four blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. Senior outside Bill Le (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) had five kills and six digs.
 
Staten Island's kills leader was Brian Sheydvasser with six (6-4-15, .133). Danil Kubovitskiy had three blocks (two solo).
 
NJCU never trailed in the first two sets as the Knights hit .462 in each period—with 17 kills in game one (17-5-26) and eight in the second set (8-2-13).
 
NJCU scored the first seven points of game one and claimed leads of 8-1 and 10-2. Up 17-12 midway through the game, five straight points elevated the margin back to 10 (22-12) which was the final differential.
 

The Knights surged out to a 7-1 lead in game two and leading 8-3, unleashed a 9-0 outburst for a decisive 17-3 advantage. CSI committed 13 attack errors in the game.
 
Many of NJCU's reserves saw time in the third set as the Knights smashed more kills in the game (18) than CSI had in the match. CSI led for much of the period, holding margins of 14-10, 21-17 and 22-18, and the Dolphins held double set point with a 24-22 cushion. But CSI failed to win its first set in program history as NJCU stormed back. Two kills by Tribbett sandwiched around a CSI attack error tied the set and gave NJCU a 25-24 lead. CSI would even it at 25-25 on an NJCU attack error by the deadlock was short-lived as Sorrell and Tribbett returned to floor back-to-back kills to clinch a 27-25 win and sweep the match. 
 QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Robert Cole (second season)
On the outcome: "We'll take some positives out of today. Our blocking was improved. We're getting better defensively. We'll work hard tomorrow in practice to become more consistent. We've got a tremendous opportunity to play two great programs Saturday and we're looking forward to it."
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads, 1-0 (first meeting).
• Closing in on the 400th win in school history, NJCU improves to 399-342 in 741 all-time matches.
• NJCU owns a .903 serving percentage nine sets into the season.
• All four matches have ended in 4-0 results this year.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
On Saturday, NJCU heads to Poughkeepsie, NY for a challenging non-conference tri-match against host Vassar College (1 p.m.) and Wentworth Institute of Technology (3 p.m.). Wentworth (8-2) and Vassar (5-3) each received votes in the latest AVCA Division III Top 15 poll with seven and six points, respectively—equivalent to a No. 16 and No. 17 national listing.
 
It will be the first meeting between NJCU and Wentworth since two meetings during the 2013 season, including a 3-2 neutral court win for the Knights in Providence, RI on March 15, 2013. NJCU leads the all-time series, 5-4.
 
NJCU faces Vassar for the first time since a 3-1 loss in Jersey City on March 17, 2012. The Brewers lead the series, 13-0.