JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Freshman middle Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) had a stellar all-around effort, smashing 11 kills at a .533 percentage while adding six blocks and three service aces as New Jersey City University swept a non-conference men's volleyball match from John Jay College, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-22) on March 26 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. It was the first meeting between the schools in 13 years.
 
Behind its two former AVCA National Player of the Week selections—Sorrell and sophomore middle hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) —NJCU snapped a two-game skid and improved to 13-9 by hitting .297 as a team with 37 kills (37-15-74) and 10.0 blocks. John Jay (10-9) dropped its third in a row.
 
Sorrell reached double figures in kills for the third time in his career but just the first time in a three-set match, hitting for a line of 11-3-15 and had two solo and four assisted rejections.
 
Coure hit .400 with seven kills (7-1-15) and four blocks while rookie setter John Leon (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala) produced 19 assists and six kills (.273, 6-3-11) in a two-setter rotation. Freshman setter Eric Maldonado (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) tallied 16 assists.
 
Also for NJCU, junior outside hitter Daque Wilcox (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech) hit .333 with seven kills (7-3-12) and junior opposite Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) posted five assisted blocks with three kills. Junior libero Raymel Castro (Newark, NJ/Barringer) and junior outside Nick Poh (Richmond, VA/Varina) defended eight and seven digs, respectively. 
 John Jay senior outside Yevgeniy Remennik (Kiev, Ukraine) was the most accurate Bloodhound, hitting .583 with eight kills (8-1-12) and junior middle Jack Palleschi (Valley Stream, NY) finished with eight kills and two blocks. Junior setter Nicholas Anderson (Bellmore, NY) gave out 21 assists and had two blocks.
 
NJCU had 13 kills in the opening game, led by Sorrell who had five kills in seven swings (.429) with Leon hitting .600 (4-1-5). Leading 13-10, NJCU scored three points off of John Jay errors and a solo block by Sorrell and a smash by Coure made it 19-13. Three kills in a span of four points late in the game by Leon extended the advantage to 23-16 before Sorrell unleashed a pair of kills to claim a 25-17 win.
 
In game two, NJCU's team percentage jumped to .409 (12-3-22) with Wilcox putting away four winners. The Bloodhounds kept it close, drawing within 17-16 on an Anderson ace before the Knights countered with the next four points—including a double block by Sorrell and Tribbett and an ace by Poh, to boost its margin to 21-16. That's all NJCU needed, winning, 25-20, on a Wilcox ace.
 
NJCU never trailed in game three and interspersed its lineup with starters and reserves. John Jay had a 15-12 cushion in kills in the game but NJCU hit .304 and Sorrell was the leader, hitting .500 with four kills (4-1-6) and three blocks in the set. Midway through the game, NJCU opened up an 18-11 margin, only to see the Bloodhounds rally with a 9-2 run, including five consecutive points behind the serving of Anderson, to tie the period at 20-20 after back-to-back kills by Remennik and Palleschi. Sorrell put away a kill to give NJCU back the lead and when Palleschi cut it to 22-21, Sorrell floored another shot for 23-21. Palleschi followed with another kill to give JJC life (23-22) but a visitor service error and an ace by Sorrell on match point clinched the result.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Robert Cole (second season)

On the win: "We played in system the whole night and I thought we passed the ball really well tonight. We were able to block out some outside factors tonight and played well. Our middles were active and our pins took advantage of some opportunities tonight. Happy with our effort and the class we showed."

OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads, 18-0, and has won all 10 matches in Jersey City.
• It was the first meeting between the schools since March 28, 2002 in Jersey City. The clubs first met in 1994. After a hiatus, John Jay reinstated men's volleyball as an intercollegiate offering in 2012.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
In the makeup of a February 22 snowout, NJCU faces Sarah Lawrence College at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 27 before meeting Purchase College at 7 p.m. in a pair of home Skyline Conference matches. NJCU downed Sarah Lawrence, 3-0 (25-7, 25-9, 25-4) on March 21 in the first-ever meeting between the schools. NJCU and Purchase will square off for the first time this season; the Knights own an 11-0 lead all-time in the series (8 sweeps).