New Jersey City University Athletics

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University lost to the College of New Rochelle in three sets before rediscovering the win column in its second match against host Pratt Institute as NJCU split a Columbus Day non-conference tri-match on October 10. New Rochelle swept NJCU in the opening match, 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-10) before the Gothic Knights won the final two sets against Pratt for a 3-1 (25-15, 25-27, 25-22, 25-15) outcome.
 
The Gothic Knights had their four-match winning streak snapped but with the split are 11-7 on the season. New Rochelle was 12-9 after the win over NJCU. Pratt fell to 8-6.
 
MATCH 1: College of New Rochelle 3, New Jersey City University 0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-10)
In the first ever meeting between the schools, the Blue Angels had a 30-11 margin in kills and the Knights were held below .000 on attack for only the third time this season. NJCU hit a season-low -.167 in the match (11-21-60).
 
In the win for CNR, Cristal Liciaga had 11 kills (11-2-21) and hit .429 while Tamara Beckford attacked at a .417 clip with seven kills (7-2-12) and four blocks. Melanie Lopez Soto added 15 assists.
 
In defeat, sophomore libero Shaylah Ware (Newark, N.J./Science Park) had 11 digs. No NJCU player had more than three kills.
 
Tied 4-4 in game one, CNR used an 11-2 run to jump out to a 15-6 margin and the Blue Angels led wire-to-wire in the second and third sets.
 
MATCH 2: New Jersey City University 3, Pratt Institute 1 (25-15, 25-27, 25-22, 25-15)
 
Junior setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) distributed 37 assists to move into fourth place in that category in school history and paced two players in double figures in kills as NJCU bounced back with a 3-1 win. NJCU unleashed 18 aces in the match.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Ayleen Pittar (Union City, N.J./Union City) flirted with a triple-double, slamming 11 kills (.133, 11-7-30) with 10 digs and six service aces and two blocks. Senior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) hit .429 with 11 kills and four blocks while sophomore outside Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, N.J./Harrison) defended 11 digs and nine kills.
 
Also for NJCU, Ware passed 16 digs and uncorked four aces while freshman outside Stephanie Duque (West New York, N.J./Memorial) unleashed six aces, adding seven digs and two blocks. McIntyre added three kills in three attacks.
 
NJCU had a 41-22 margin in kills and limited the Cannoneers to a -.019 attack (22-24-103). Talya Polat had 11 digs and 10 assists for the hosts. Marlena Todd led Pratt with seven kills.
 
NJCU scored the first four points of game one before Pratt came back to tie it at 5-5. It remained close (13-12) until a 6-0 streak in the middle of the opening set gave NJCU a 19-12 lead and it won by 10 points.
 
There were 12 ties and seven lead changes in game two. Tied 17-17, NJCU scored the next four points—two aces by Duque helped make it a 21-17 lead. After two kills by Pittar and O'Donnell, NJCU led 24-19 and had five set points. But the Cannoneers stormed back, scoring the next six points, including three straight aces by Rachel Goatley to tie it at 24-24. Even again at 25-25, NJCU committed a pair of attack errors as Pratt won, 27-25.
 

Tied 14-14 in the third set, NJCU scored the next five points, aided by two more aces by Duque and extended the run to 9-2 when Pittar followed with a kill and a pair of aces for a 23-16 lead. Pratt made it interesting again, reeling off six consecutive points as the Knights committed five straight attack errors. But up one (23-22), McIntyre took charge with a kill from the setter position and a Pratt error gave NJCU the 25-22 win.
 
Pratt led 12-10 in the fourth set before NJCU unleashed six straight points—highlighted by two combo blocks involving Haxhaj—and extended the outburst to 12-1 with another 6-0 run. Haxhaj had two more kills and Pittar landed back-to-back aces at the end of the spurt. There would be no comeback this time by Pratt and an ace by Ware sealed it, 25-15.   
 
OF NOTE:

• Series vs. New Rochelle: First meeting.
• Series vs. Pratt: NJCU leads the all-time series, 2-0.
• Rachel McIntyre, with 47 assists in two matches, upped her career assists to 1762, passing Leydi Zuluaga (2001-02, 1730 assists) for fourth in school history. Next on the list is Sofia Gutierrez with 2,292 assists in 269 sets from 2005-06. McIntyre will likely have a shot at that milestone early in her senior season in 2017.
• Shege Haxhaj reached double figures in kills for the fourth this year and 21st time in her career. She moved into ninth place in school history with 665 kills, passing Tabitha Jordan (654 kills, 2008-11).
• Ayleen Pittar reached double figures in kills for the seventh time this year and in her career.
• Shaylah Ware, who missed the first 10 matches of the season with an injury, has now registered double figures in digs five times in eight matches as a Gothic Knight.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU is right back in action on Tuesday, October 11 when it heads to Glassboro, N.J. for a New Jersey Athletic Conference match at Rowan University at 7 p.m. The Profs (6-14, 2-2 NJAC) lead the all-time series, 28-3, and have won the last nine meetings.