JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |  Rutgers University-Newark limited the New Jersey City University women's volleyball team to negative attack percentages in all three sets and swept a New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup from the Gothic Knights, 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-11) on September 29 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
Rutgers-Newark (8-3, 1-2 NJAC) wins its first NJAC match of the season while NJCU (6-7, 0-4 NJAC) drops below .500 for the first time this season.
 
The Scarlet Raiders had twice as many kills as NJCU (34-17) and a notable 68 percent sideout ratio for the match (28-41), while posting double figures in kills in all three games (11, 12, 11).
 
NJCU had an attack line of 17-24-90 in the match and hit -.078 for the contest. The Knights never led and could only force two ties early in the first set.
 
Sophomore outside Karolina Kopacz (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford) was the Scarlet Raiders' top weapon, hitting .387 with a match-high 15 kills (15-3-21).
 
Junior right side Tabitha Davis (Irvington, NJ/Benedictine Academy) had seven kills (7-3-16, .250), three blocks and two aces. Sophomore setter Nathalie Breining (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) paced the Raiders with 27 assists, six digs and four service aces and sophomore libero Sue Riley (Rahway, NJ/Roselle Catholic) frustrated NJCU with 17 digs. Senior middle blocker Sharee Gordon (Newark, NJ/University) hit .333 with five kills (5-0-15) and two blocks.
 
Freshman right side Naiomi Cintron (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) was the only primary attacker in positive territory, landing five kills (5-3-14). Sophomore setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) finished with 11 assists and seven digs. Senior libero Valerie Ballestas (North Bergen, NJ/Weehawken) tallied 14 digs in the loss.
 
Of Note:

• RUN leads the all-time series, 36-10. NJCU still is 9-5 in the last 14 meetings.
• Junior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) needed 18 kills to becoming the 15th NJCU player with 500 for a career but did not have a kill in the loss (0-4-7).
• McIntyre entered the night needing 23 assists to become the fifth Gothic Knight with 1,000 career assists; she now has 988 for her career.
• The match was the first of four straight home matches.
• Ballestas had double figures in digs for the sixth time in her career (fourth time in 2015).

 
What's Next?:
NJCU will host a non-conference tri-match on Saturday, October 3 against Purchase College (11 a.m.) and CCNY (3 p.m.) with the two schools playing a neutral court contest at 1 p.m.
 
NJCU and Purchase will meet for only the second time ever and the first time since a neutral court match on September 12, 2009 in Mahwah, NJ—a match won by NJCU, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-21). CCNY leads the all-time series with NJCU, 16-15; the Knights have won the last two meetings, including a 3-0 win (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) in Jersey City on November 1, 2014.