BRONXVILLE, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) became just the second player in program history to twice unleash 10+ service aces in a three-set match and the Gothic Knights dispatched Sarah Lawrence College with 25 team service aces as New Jersey City University swept the non-conference women's volleyball match, 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-17) on September 8.
 
NJCU improved to 3-1 as the Knights produced their most aces in a three-set match since October 2007. SLC dropped to 1-1.
 
McIntyre dished 21 assists and floored 10 aces to lead the NJCU effort with her 10th career double-double. NJCU had 10 aces in the opening set along—three by McIntyre—and she unloaded five of NJCU's eight aces in the second set. Six different players had an ace for NJCU in the third set when the club chalked up seven more.  All nine players who served for NJCU in the match had at least one ace.
 
Freshman outside hitter Georgina Rayo (Jersey City, NJ/McNair Academic), earlier in the day named New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for week one of the season, lived up to that billing by hitting a colossal .727 with a match-best eight kills and no errors in 11 swings in two sets.
 
Junior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) played just two sets, hitting .750 (3-0-4). Freshman outside  Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) and freshman right side Naiomi Cintron (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) had four aces apiece. Freshman middle Diana Trochimowicz (Linden, NJ/Linden) put away four kills in six swings (.500) in two games.
 
NJCU owned a 27-13 advantage in kills on the night. Seven Green (five kills) and Yolanda Lyne Cando (four kills) were responsible for most of Sarah Lawrence's offense.
 
The Knights hit an electric .889 in the opening set, punishing the Gyphons with eight kills in nine swings (no errors). NJCU led 7-1 before scoring the final eight points of the game. NJCU was never seriously challenged after the midway point of the second and third sets; the Knights used a 9-2 run in the third game for a 13-7 lead, extending that surge to 13-3 and a 17-8 margin.
 
Quotable Knights:
Head Coach Robert Cole (second season)
"It was nice to win on the road, but we were sloppy on offense. Our serving and serve receive carried us today. We're gonna need a great day in practice tomorrow. We're looking forward to the opportunity to get better."
 
Of Note:

• NJCU leads all-time series, 5-0 (all 3-0 sweeps).
• NJCU is 3-1 for the first time since 2012.
• Rachel McIntyre also served 10 aces against Sarah Lawrence on September 27, 2014. She joins Melissa Pablos as the only players with 10 or more aces in a three-set match twice.
• McIntyre's 10 aces were only the ninth time any player has accomplished the feat in a three-set match:
  • 15, Melissa Pablos, October 18, 2003 vs. Medgar Evers
  • 11, Evelyn Halkias, October 19, 2002 vs. Rutgers-Camden
  • 10, Melissa Pablos, October 27, 2001 vs. Rutgers-Camden
  • 10, Melissa Pablos, September 13, 2003  vs. St. Elizabeth
  • 10, Christina Cocucci, October 25, 2003 at Medgar Evers
  • 10, Glorinell Perez, October 14, 2004 at Staten Island
  • 10, Tabitha Jordan, October 19, 2010 vs. St. Joseph's (Brooklyn)
  • 10, Rachel McIntyre, September 27, 2014 vs. Sarah Lawrence
  • 10, Rachel McIntyre, September 8, 2015 at Sarah Lawrence
• NJCU had 25 or more aces in a three-set match for only the sixth time in its history:
  • 29, September 13, 2003 vs. St. Elizabeth
  • 28, September 26, 2002 vs. Brooklyn
  • 27, October 19, 2002 vs. St. Elizabeth
  • 26, October 5, 2007 vs. Manhattanville
  • 25, October 25, 2007 vs. Lehman
  • 25, September 8, 2015 at Sarah Lawrence

 
What's Next?:
NJCU will face Centenary College in a non-conference match in Hackettstown, NJ (7 p.m.) on Thursday, September 10. NJCU leads the all-time series, 20-6, and has won 14 consecutive matches in the series since its last loss on September 19, 1998.