PROVIDENCE, RI (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team split four matches at the Johnson and Wales Invitational on March 11 and 12 at the Wildcat Center, sweeping a pair of opening day contests with Lesley University and York College (NY) before dropping a 3-0 decision to Emmanuel College (Mass.) and a 3-1 outcome to host Johnson and Wales on the final day.
 
With the split, NJCU remains .500 on the season at 14-14. NJCU cruised past Lesley (0-9) by a 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-20) margin and beat York (9-14) by a 3-0 decision (25-12, 25-16, 25-18).

Emmanuel (11-8) handled NJCU, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-16). After two close sets, JWU (10-11) got the most of NJCU in the final two games to win the fourth match of the weekend, 3-1 (25-22, 26-28, 25-13, 25-10).

Senior outside hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) had 38 kills for the weekend and twice reached double figures—the 24th and 25th such efforts of his career. Sophomore middle hitter Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) hit .468 in the tournament with 27 kills (27-5-47) and had 10 blocks (0.77 per set). Freshman setter Erick Nascimento (Miami, FL/Alonzo Tracy Mourning) averaged 7.73 assists per set, dishing 85 in four matches. Senior outside Daque Wilcox (Fredericksburg, VA/Camden County Tech, NJ) and senior middle Ivan Prensa (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) tallied 21 and 19 kills, respectively, in the four contests.
 
MATCH 1: New Jersey City University 3, Lesley University 0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-20)
In the opening match, NJCU made quick work of Lesley as the Lynx were limited to -.100 hitting. NJCU hit .288 with 29 kills and a 73 percent sideout rate. Lesley committed 22 attack errors, with NJCU's blocking frustrating the Lynx with eight rejections.
 
Sorrell hit .583 with seven kills (7-0-12) and four blocks (three assisted) while Coure totaled a match-best eight kills (8-3-15) with a .333 percentage. Prensa also had seven kills (.286, 7-3-14). Wilcox added five kills, three aces and two blocks. Nascimento (16 assists) and senior right side/setter Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) had eight assists and three aces.
 
Karuna Chiemruom had 15 assists for Lesley, which only had four kills in game one and just two in the second set before posting 10 of its 16 in game three.
 
In game one, NJCU only led 11-10 before a 5-0 run pushed the lead to six (16-10) and it extended to 19-11 after an 8-1 spurt. NJCU jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set and leading 17-10, scored seven consecutive points late in the set to make it a rout before sweeping the match in three.

 

MATCH 2: New Jersey City University 3, York College (NY) 0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-18)
NJCU unleashed 17 service aces and had more than double the kills of the Cardinals (38-16) while hitting .296 (38-14-81).
 
Coure tallied 11 kills (.286, 11-5-21), seven digs and four aces while Sorrell slammed eight kills, hit .429 (8-2-14) and stuffed three blocks (two solo) and served three aces. Nascimento dished 30 assists and five digs, hitting .600 (3-0-5). Wilcox hit .500 with six winners (6-0-12) and four aces and Prensa chipped in five kills and four aces. Freshman libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) defended a match-high 10 digs.
 
York didn't have a player with more than five kills and its sideout ratio was just 42 percent in the loss. NJCU had double digits in kills in each game, punctuated by 16 in the third set.
 
Leading 9-7 in game one, NJCU scored eight of the next nine points to vault ahead, 17-8, after back-to-back kills by Prensa. Ahead 18-11, NJCU scored seven of the final eight to close the game. Wilcox floored three consecutive aces in game two after a kill of his own in the middle of the set to put it out of reach. The Cardinals scored six consecutive points early in the third set for a 9-5 lead before NJCU answered with an 8-1 run to claim a 13-10 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
 
MATCH 3: Emmanuel College 3, New Jersey City University 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-16)
In the first meeting between the schools in seven years, Emmanuel hit .321 with a 40-24 differential in kills and the Saints sided out at an 80 percent ratio.
 
Barrett Wingard had a match-high 13 kills and hit .304 (13-6-23) with eight digs and two aces. Jorge Rojas dished 32 assists. Julian Hess amassed an impressive .818 attack percentage, with nine kills in 11 swings (no errors). Kevin Gallegos defended nine digs.
 
Coure, Wilcox and Sorrell each had six kills; Sorrell had the best attack line, hitting .500 (6-1-10). Prensa had five blocks—four solo—and Nascimento finished with 21 assists.
 
The Saints never trailed in games one or three. EC jumped out to a 6-1 lead in game one. NJCU closed within 9-7 before Emmanuel scored nine of the next 11 points. The clubs were tied 10-10 in the second game before scoring seven of the next eight points. A 17-8 deficit proved too much to overcome in game three.  
 
MATCH 4: Johnson & Wales University 3, New Jersey City University 1 (25-22, 26-28, 25-13, 25-10)
Johnson and Wales spread around its offense as five players had eight kills apiece and the Wildcats hit .307 as a team with 46 kills. JWU also served seven aces and combined for 9.0 blocks
 
Coure had a match-high 13 kills (13-5-36, .222) and five digs and Wilcox tallied 11 digs. Sorrell hit .364 with six kills (6-2-11) and two blocks. Nascimento had 18 assists and put away five kills in six attempts for an .833 percentage.
 

Kyle Eva, Alex Seda, Kyle MacKnight, Brendan Baker and Cameron Ponce each collected eight kills for the Wildcats. Ponce hit 350 (8-1-20), delivered a double-double of 18 assists and 13 digs and blocked three balls while Eva hit .636 (8-1-11) with five blocks (two solo). MacKnight had nine digs and hit .294 (8-3-17). Jason Rhee also had 18 assists in a two-setter system.
 
There were eight ties and two lead changes in game one. Tied 17-17, kills by Eva and MacKnight put the hosts in front. Still ahead 23-20, a kill by Sorrell and an attack error made it a one-point game before JWU won it on a kill by Seda and an Eva block.
 
Game two saw 11 ties and three lead changes. The Wildcats had two set points before two errors gave NJCU the lead, 25-24. JWU twice tied it before back-to-back attack errors handed NJCU a 28-26 decision.
 
But JWU dominated the third set with a 17-9 advantage in kills, jumping out to a 6-1 lead which it pushed to 18-7 at the end of a 6-0 spurt. JWU never trailed in the fourth set, scoring six in a row and a 9-1 run to pull away.
 
#KnightNotes

• Series vs. Lesley: First Meeting.
• Series vs. York (NY): 26th meeting (second this season). NJCU leads, 20-6, and has won 17 of the last 18 meetings, including January 31, 2016.
• Series vs. Emmanuel: Emmanuel leads, 3-2; first meeting since February 14, 2009.
• Series vs. Johnson & Wales: NJCU leads, 5-2. First meeting since March 16, 2013.
• Sheldon Coure reached double figures in kills for the 24th and 25th time in three years and seventh and eighth time in 2016.
• David Penaherrera reached double figures in digs for the third time vs. York.
• Daque Wilcox vs. JWU had double figures in digs for the fourth time this season and sixth time in his career.

 
#NextKnightTime:
NJCU heads to Langhorne, Pa. on Wednesday, March 16 (7 p.m.) for a non-conference match at Cairn University. The Highlanders won last year's meeting in Jersey City, 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-20) on February 25, 2015, and have won the last seven meetings in a series it leads, 13-2.