Men's Volleyball | March 21, 2015

Box Score 1 | Box Score 3 JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team posted a scorching .558 attack percentage—the fourth highest in known program history and the best during the 25-point rally scoring era—and eased to a 3-0 sweep of Sarah Lawrence College (25-7, 25-9, 25-4) in the opening contest of a Skyline Conference tri-match on March 21 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. In the final match, NJCU pressed Ramapo College, holding late leads in the second and third sets before RCNJ held off the Gothic Knights, 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-22).
 
With the split, NJCU is 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the league. Ramapo went 2-0 on the day, sweeping Sarah Lawrence, 3-0 (25-5, 25-11, 25-12), in the middle match. The Gyphons fell to 0-12 (0-7 Skyline) with the pair of losses.In a match that was never in question, NJCU handed the Gyphons their 37th consecutive loss in the first-ever meeting between the programs. SLC is in its first year as a member of the Skyline. NJCU led wire-to-wire in every game and dismantled the opponents with an incredible .558 with 33 kills and only four errors in 52 attempts. NJCU also produced 11 aces and 7.0 blocks.
 
In a well-distributed offensive effort for NJCU, which started many reserves in the match with a long day of volleyball ahead, freshman outside hitter Tijani Rezki (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) hit .750 with six kills in eight attacks (no errors) while adding five digs and freshman outside hitter Arthur Safavi (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) collected six kills at a .231 pace.
 
Junior Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional), NJCU's usual starting opposite hitter, made a brief two-set appearance at middle hitter and was nearly flawless, hitting .833 with five kills in six attempts (no errors), adding two blocks. Freshman right side Jalen Bryan (East Orange, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) hit .667 with four kills (4-0-6) and three blocks.
 Freshman setter Eric Maldonado (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) had an incredible setting performance with 24 assists in 34 attempts for a .706 percentage. He also landed four kills in eight swings (no errors) to hit .500 and uncorked three aces.
 
Also for NJCU, sophomore middle hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) played only in the opening set and smashed four kills in four attempts for a 1.000 effort. Rookie setter John Leon (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala) played sparingly late in the third set and managed four assists and three aces. Freshman middle Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) had three kills in as many swings to also hit 1.000.

 
NJCU scored the first seven points of the opening set, and led 17-4. NJCU hit .533 in the game with 10 kills in 15 swings (two errors). Coure was a perfect 4-for-4 on attack in the set. The Gryphons hit -.381 in the period (2-10-21) and were blocked three times.
 
In game two, NJCU jumped out to a 7-1 lead and held a 13-4 advantage before cruising to the 16-point result. NJCU hit even better in game two, posting a .600 percentage with 10 kills in 15 swings and just one error. SLC had just eight attack attempts in the game and hit -.500 (1-5-8). Tribbett hit a perfect 3-for-3 in the game and Rezki had three kills in four attempts.
 
The third set saw NJCU again race out to a 7-0 lead and with a 12-4 advantage, Leon entered the match to serve. NJCU chalked up 13 consecutive points to finish the match and won convincingly, 25-4. It was the fourth time this year NJCU has held an opponent to five or fewer points in a set.
 In a neutral court match, Ramapo (12-12) never trailed and hit .362 as a team in sweeping the Gryphons. SLC hit -.278 (6-21-54) in the contest. The Roadrunners served 16 aces with five players ringing up multiple point scoring serves. Alec Weissman (East Brunswick, NJ) had a .647 setting percentage to lead RCNJ, notching 22 assists and three aces. Garrett Fitzsimmons (Glen Allen, VA) hit .667 with five kills (65-1-6) and 6-foot-10 Petko Ljusic (Istok, Serbia) added a .571 attack with five kills (5-1-7) and two aces. Justin Feigeles (Bellmore, NY) added four kills and hit .500 (4-1-6). Seven RCNJ players produced three or more kills.
 NJCU held four set points in game two and a 21-20 lead in set three but could not hold off two Roadrunner rallies as RCNJ swept the Knights. Feigeles posted a match-high 17 kills and a .350 attack (17-3-40) while accounting for nearly half of the visitor's 39 winners. The two sides traded 29 ties and 14 leads in the match.
 In defeat, Coure had another fine match, posting a .364 attack percentage and 13 kills (13-5-22) with two blocks. In a two-setter system, Leon delivered 16 assists, five kills at a .273 percentage (5-2-11) and two aces. Sorrell finished with seven kills while hitting .500 (7-1-12) and added two blocks.
 
RCNJ hit .191 as a team, led by setter Weissman with 35 assists. Marinus Tavernier (Plainfield, NJ) was tough for Ramapo, hitting .375 with nine kills (9-3-16) and four blocks. Peter Desvousges (Flemington, NJ) finished with three aces.
 
Also for the knights, junior outside hitter Nick Poh (Richmond, VA/Varina) and junior outside hitter Daque Wilcox (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech) each had 10 digs as NJCU posted 47 as a team. Maldonado tallied 15 assists and six digs.
 

Ramapo won a back-and-forth first set, 25-21, after seven ties, two lead changes and 16 combined attack errors between the clubs—many of which were unforced. Tied at 16-16, RCNJ scored the next four points as NJCU committed three straight errors. NJCU battled back to pull within one, 20-19, on a triple block by Leon, Sorrell and Wilcox. But the last seven points of the game all ended on errors, with five committed by the Knights.
 
Game two saw higher attack percentages and a lot of offense as Ramapo notched 18 kills and hit .325 (18-5-40) while NJCU answered with 14 winners at a .270 rate (14-4-37) as the clubs traded 12 ties and five lead changes before RCNJ survived four set points to win in extra time. Feigeles hit .471 in the set with nine kills (9-1-17) and Tavernier hit .833 with five kills (5-0-6). Coure posted a .833 rate with five kills (5-0-6) for NJCU while Sorrell hit .667 in the game (4-0-6).
 
NJCU had trailed 15-12 but rallied to tie it at 17-17 when Leon deposited an ace inside the back line. RCNJ scored the next two, including a monster block by Desvousges and Tavernier, before NJCU responded as Coure put a kill thru the block (19-18) and Tribbett had a monster solo stuff down the line to tie it at 19-19. With NJCU down 21-20 after three straight service errors, Sorrell put a kill thru the block and Wilcox tipped a loose ball to the floor for a 22-21 lead. After a timeout, Sorrell had a solo stuff in the middle (23-21) that forced a carry and Tribbett, on an over ball, put enough overhand juice on it to deflect a kill off the block for a 24-21 lead. Facing three set points, Fitzsimmons put away a set and Feigeles notched two kills to tie it at 24-24. Sorrell powered home a 1-ball for another set point, 25-24, before RCNJ uncorked the final three points—a winner by Feigeles to tie it and back-to-back smashed balls by Tavernier, including a game-winning kill on a bad set that sailed over the net.
 
In the third set, each club collected 12 kills with Feigeles responsible for half of them for Ramapo, hitting .462 (6-0-13). Trailing 10-8, NJCU generated an 8-1 run to build a 16-11 margin on a Leon ace. But RCNJ rallied again, with Feigeles notching a kill and teaming for a block with Tavernier to jumpstart the Roadrunners, as the gap was closed to 16-15. NJCU continued to maintain tight leads, including 20-18 when Sorrell put away an attempt. But two kills by Ramapo, the latter by Feigeles on a cross court winner, tied it at 20-20. Poh kept NJCU alive with a kill off the block for a one-point lead before NJCU committed two attack error sandwiched around an ace to fall behind, 23-21. A kill by Coure kept NJCU alive (23-22) before two final attack errors by NJCU sealed the 25-22 result.
 


OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Sarah Lawrence: First meeting.
• Series vs. Ramapo: 61st meeting. The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 50-11 and have won the last 21 meetings since 2006.
• Sheldon Coure reached double figures in kills for the 16th time in his career and fourth time this season.
• NJCU's .558 attack percentage was the highest since hitting .594 at Purchase on March 13, 2005 and the best during the current 25-point rally scoring era. NJCU hit 33-4-52 in the win.
  • Since 2001, matches with a team hitting percentage of .500 or better:
  • .759 (47-3-58); NJCU vs. Yeshiva, February 6, 2005
  • .594 (48-7-69); NJCU at Purchase, March 13, 2005
  • .586 (49-11-90); NJCU at York (NY), March 22, 2003
  • .558 (33-4-52); NJCU vs. Sarah Lawrence, March 21, 2015
  • .535 (44-6-71); NJCU vs. Baptist Bible, February 24, 2001
  • .531 (49-6-81); NJCU at NYU-Poly, March 10, 2006
  • .508 (38-8-58); NJCU at Medgar Evers, March 2, 2015
  • .500 (48-7-82); NJCU at NYU-Poly, February 20, 2007
  • .500 (43-10-66); NJCU at Purchase, March 2, 2002
• In the third set, NJCU held an opponent to five or fewer points for a school record fourth time this season. The lowest scoring non-forfeited sets, rally scoring error (2001-10, 30-point system; 2011-present, 25-point system):
  • 25-3 (NJCU vs. Brooklyn, Jan. 31, 2015)
  • 25-4 (Sarah Lawrence College at NJCU, March 21, 2015)
  • 25-4 (Yeshiva University at NJCU, Feb. 19, 2015)
  • 30-4 (Yeshiva University at NJCU, Feb. 1, 2001)
  • 25-5 (NJCU at Medgar Evers, March 2, 2015)
  • 30-5 (Yeshiva University vs. NJCU, Feb. 27, 2003)
  • 25-6 (Gallaudet University at NJCU, Feb. 23, 2013)
  • 30-6 (Baptist Bible College vs. NJCU, April 1, 2004)

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
On Tuesday, March 24 at 7 p.m., NJCU hosts the third of six consecutive home matches as the Knights square off with No. 3 ranked SUNY New Paltz, a 2014 NCAA national semifinalist. The Hawks are 17-3 overall, and winners of 11 straight. NP has had two players win AVCA National Player of the Week honors a combined three times this season (January 27, March 10, March 17) and the club is a legitimate national title contender. NP won the last meeting between the schools on April 9, 2014 in New Paltz, NY when the then No. 2 ranked Hawks prevailed, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-15). NP leads the all-time series, 20-2, and has won the last 15 meetings.