NEW YORK, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) hit .583 on attack and the New Jersey City University's women's volleyball team received outstanding collegiate debuts from freshmen outside hitters Georgina Rayo (Jersey City, NJ/McNair Academic) and Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) as the Gothic Knights swept Yeshiva University, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-23) in NJCU's 2015 season opener played at Baruch College's ARC Arena.
 
In the first-ever meeting in women's volleyball between the schools, Haxhaj had seven kills without committing an error (12 attacks) and five digs while Rayo and O'Donnell combined to uncork 10 of NJCU's 15 service aces.
 
Rayo had a match-high eight kills, hitting .350 (8-1-20) with six aces and five digs. O'Donnell contributed seven kills at a .357 pace (7-2-14) with four aces and five digs.
 
Sophomore setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) dished 22 assists and six digs while sophomore libero Jacqueline Romero (West New York, NJ/Memorial) defended 11 digs. All 11 players on the roster saw considerable time.
 
YU was led by Gavriela Colton with eight kills (8-2-17, 353) and Shaina Hourizadeh provided 12 digs and three aces in the loss. Emily Rohan had 10 assists and three aces.
 
Trailing 6-2 in the opening set, NJCU ran off the next five points to take the lead and extended its streak to 14-2 to seize a 16-8 margin. NJCU limited the hosts to three kills in the opening game. NJCU led wire-to-wire in the second set when the Maccabees committed 12 attack errors.
 
The third set was the lone competitive game as the clubs traded 14 ties and nine lead changes and combined for 25 kills. NJCU had 13 winners in the set and Yeshiva posted 12 of its 21 kills in game three when it hit at a .312 percentage (12-2-32). With NJCU railing late, 21-20, Yeshiva committed an attack error and Haxhaj put away a kill to give the Knights the lead for good before Rayo floored an ace. Back-to-back kills by O'Donnell clinched the win.
 
Quotable Knights:
Head Coach Robert Cole (second season): "It was a good win tonight. We executed when we needed to. We're a long way off, but it's nice to get the first one out of the way early."
 
What's Next?:
NJCU will play in a tri-match on Saturday, September 5 in Bryn Mawr, Pa., facing Bryn Athyn College in a neutral court match at 1 p.m. followed by a contest with host Rosemont College at 3 p.m. NJCU defeated Bryn Athyn, 3-1, in the only previous meeting on October 7, 2012. NJCU also defeated Rosemont in the only meeting between the programs, 3-1, on September 11, 2010 in Langhorne, Pa.