PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University dropped a pair of four-set non-conference women's volleyball matches on October 15, losing to Baruch College, 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 25-8) in a neutral court affair before dropping a 3-1 (25-20, 25-16, 24-26, 25-18) outing to host St. Joseph's College (LI).
 
The losses drop NJCU back to .500 on the season (11-11). Senior middle hitter Shege Haxhaj (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) amassed 23 kills and 11 blocks in eight sets for the Gothic Knights. Both opponents took advantage of their service game, acing NJCU 35 times in the two matches.
 
MATCH 1: Baruch 3, New Jersey City University 1 (25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 25-8)
Haxhaj had a season-high 15 kills and hit .379 in the loss to the Bearcats. She posted an attack line of 15-4-29 and added four blocks. Each team had similar offensive numbers with Baruch narrowly edging NJCU in kills, 40-39.
 
But NJCU struggled in serve receive, as Baruch landed 16 aces and committed just three service errors while the Knights could only convert four aces.
 
Akilah Meulens equaled Haxhaj with a match-high 15 kills with four aces while Stephanie Cornwell contributed 29 assists, eight digs and six aces for the Bearcats (9-19).
 
Also for Baruch, Alessandra Chavez chipped in eight kills, seven digs and three aces. Sophia Shahipour (eight kills) and Marisa Bou (13 digs) also contributed.
 

Junior setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, Pa./Upper Darby) finished with 33 assists and six digs. Freshman outside hitter Stephanie Duque (West New York, N.J./Memorial) tallied 13 digs, seven kills and three blocks for NJCU. Junior libero Jacqueline Romero (West New York, N.J./Memorial) chalked up 18 digs.
 
Down 20-11 in the first set, NJCU used an 8-1 run to pull within two (21-19) but couldn't draw any closer. Baruch never trailed in the second set. NJCU built leads of 19-7 and 23-18 in the third set before Baruch rallied to close within one (24-23). McIntyre's only kill of the match forced a fifth set. The Bearcats were never challenged in game four, jumping out to an 11-1 advantage by scoring 11 straight—10 behind the serving of Cornwell. Meulens helped ignite a 9-0 run to make it 23-6 and she had four aces during the spurt.
 
MATCH 2: St. Joseph's (LI) 3, New Jersey City University 1 (25-20, 25-16, 24-26, 25-18)
The Eagles' Courtney Bocchieri had a sensational individual effort, powering the hosts to a 45-32 differential in kills as she put away 18 kills and hit .536 (18-3-28) with three aces and setter Courtney Wickline added 26 assists and five aces. The Eagles (5-13) had 19 aces.
 
Haxhaj put away eight kills (.174, 8-4-23) with seven blocks (three solo) and two aces. Duque had a team-high nine kills with 12 digs and senior middle hitter Elyssa Magee (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) finished with seven kills (.250, 7-3-16) and two blocks.
 
Sophomore right side Naiomi Cintron (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) stuffed six assisted blocks and NJCU lost despite rejecting 9.0 blocks—a season high for a four-set match. Romero and senior outside Ayleen Pittar (Union City, N.J./Union City) each had 10 digs. McIntyre finished with 25 assists.
 
Danielle Senecal defended 14 digs and had four aces. Erin Kelly finished with seven kills, eight digs and two aces. Six different SJCLI players had at least two aces.
 
Down most of the first set, NJCU was able to claim a 17-16 lead, thanks to four straight points including two aces by freshman Kayla Clarke (East Rutherford, N.J./Becton Regional). But the Eagles scored the next four points, six of the next seven, and the final three of the game to win, 25-20. The Eagles led wire-to-wire in game two.
 
NJCU rallied to win game three. Down 16-12, NJCU scored the next five points to claim a 17-16 lead. After SJCLI went back ahead (19-18), NJCU collected three points—two on kills by Magee and Duque—and after the hosts tied it (21-21), the Knights scored the next three points to set up three set points (24-21). The Eagles rallied to tie it at 24-24 before committing a service error and a block by Cintron and Haxhaj forced a fourth set.
 
But once again the opposition jumped out to a huge lead in the fourth, as SJCLI vaulted out to an 11-2 margin and held a 16-3 cushion before prevailing, 25-18.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Baruch: Bearcats lead the all-time series, 8-2. First meeting since September 23, 2011.
• Series vs. St. Joseph's: Eagles lead the all-time series, 18-12. NJCU has won 11 of the last 18 meetings.
• Shege Haxhaj reached double figures in kills for the fifth this year and 22nd time in her career. She moved into eighth place in school history with 697 kills, passing Bernadette Fash (680 kills, 1992-95). She also passed Fash for ninth place in total points with 897.5. She needs to average 14.6 points per match over the final seven contests this season to become the seventh Gothic Knight to collect 1,000 career points—a combination of total kills, aces and blocks.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU faces perhaps its toughest opponent of the season on Tuesday, October 18 when it heads to Galloway to take on seven-time reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference champion Stockton University. The Ospreys (17-9, 5-1 NJAC), the 2016 preseason favorite to win the NJAC title yet again, leads the all-time series, 44-5.