NEW YORK, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |  New Jersey City University clinched its fourth consecutive appearance in the Skyline Conference Tournament, running its winning streak to five matches in the process as NJCU swept a Skyline tri-match on March 29, blanking host Yeshiva University, 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-21) before knocking off Purchase for the second time in three days, prevailing 3-1 (25-13, 25-15, 15-25, 25-14).
 
NJCU upped its record to 17-9 and 9-4 in the league with one Skyline match remaining on April 7, prior to the league semifinals on April 9. The Knights clinched the No. 3 seed and will visit No. 2 seeded Ramapo with the winner facing No. 1 Kean or No. 4 Mount Saint Vincent in the conference finals on April 11.
 NJCU improved to 29-0 all-time against Yeshiva (6-14, 2-10 Skyline) and hit .219 in the win with a 37-19 margin in kills. NJCU served 10 aces in three sets.
 
Junior libero Raymel Castro (Newark, NJ/Barringer) defended 14 digs and added five assists as NJCU held the Maccabees to a -.021 attack percentage.
 
Sophomore middle hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) hit .333 with eight kills (8-2-18) and two aces to lead the Knights and freshman middle Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) hit .444 with five kills (5-1-9). Junior outside hitter Daque Wilcox (Camden, NJ/Camden County Tech) hit .714 with five kills (5-0-7), seven digs and two aces.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman Jalen Bryan (East Orange, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) provided six kills at a .286 clip (6-2-14).
 
Freshman setter Eric Maldonado (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) tallied 17 assists, five digs and two aces and freshman setter John Leon (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala) had 11 assists.
 
Jonathan Goldstein had 15 assists and two aces for Yeshiva. Mishael Miller chipped in 11 digs.
 NJCU knocked off Purchase (8-17, 3-10 Skyline) for the second time in less than 48 hours by pounding 55 kills against just 10 errors for a .429 attack percentage on 105 chances. Castro had 16 digs to finish the day with 30 digs in seven sets.
 
In a well-rounded offense, Sorrell powered the Knights to a .615 percentage with nine kills (9-1-13) and three blocks and Coure smashed nine kills at a .500 rate (9-2-14) while uncorking four aces and three blocks. Wilcox had a team-high 11 kills while hitting .280 (11-4-25).
 
Leon distributed 29 assists, hit .545 with six kills (6-0-11) and added six digs and two blocks while Maldonado dished 16 assists. After getting the earlier match off, junior opposite Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hit .357 with six kills (6-1-14) and four blocks. Senior outside Bill Le (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) hit .571 in two sets (4-0-7).
 
Purchase received 29 of its 32 kills from two players as Kevin Carges tallied 17 kills in 50 attempts but committed 11 errors (.120). He finished with three aces. Andrew Schwab totaled 12 kills (12-6-32, .188). Kevin Egbert (28 assists, seven digs) and Matthew McCarthy (10 digs) also contributed for the Panthers.
 
QUOTES:
NJCU head coach Robert Cole (second season)
 
On clinching the Skyline Tournament bid: "Our number one goal is always to play in the Skyline playoffs. Being able to accomplish that goal is a great feeling and something every member of our program, past and present, has had a large hand in. The goal shifts to playing our best in the month of April when the stakes are a little higher. Now's not the time to sit around and feel good about ourselves though, because we have five more matches in the regular season. We've got a goal in mind and the clock is counting down; every opportunity counts from here on out."