PURCHASE, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior middle hitter Ivan Prensa (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) posted a sizzling .733 attack percentage and senior outside hitter Daque Wilcox (Fredericksburg, VA/Camden County Tech, NJ) swung at a .562 rate and both players notched double figures in kills as the New Jersey City University men's volleyball team swept a Skyline Conference match from Purchase College, 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-18) on March 30. Wilcox exceeded the 1,000 career points plateau in the win, now with 1,003.0 combined kills, blocks and aces in his Gothic Knight career—the 12th to reach the milestone.
 
NJCU (17-16, 8-6 Skyline) hit .397 as a team with a decisive 37-15 margin in kills. The Gothic Knights committed just eight attack errors (73 swings). Purchase (11-15, 5-9 Skyline) was forced into 20 attack errors and hit -.069. NJCU led wire-to-wire in each of the first two sets and never trailed once in the match.
 
Prensa reached double figures in kills for the third time in the last five matches as he planted 11 kills in only two sets of action without an error over 15 attacks. He also served three aces and stuffed two solo blocks.
 
Wilcox had 10 kills in 16 swings (one error) for a .562 percentage and senior outside hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) posted a .467 attack with eight kills (8-1-15) and seven digs.
 
Freshman setter Erick Nascimento (Miami, FL/Alonzo Tracy Mourning) handed out 20 assists and added two aces. Freshman libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) defended 11 digs. Senior right side/setter Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) contributed nine assists. Sophomore middle hitter Jalen Sorrell (Edison, NJ/John P. Stevens) hit .375 with four kills (4-1-8).
 
Junior middle/setter Andrew Schwab (Merrick, NY) tallied 11 assists for Purchase. Junior outside Riley Damerell (Rochester, NY) had six kills but nine errors.
 

NJCU had a 75 percent sideout rate in the match (28-37) including 87 percent in the opening set (7-8) when the Knights hit .500 with 14 kills (14-2-24). The sideout rate was still 81 percent (9-11) in the second game when NJCU's attack percentage rose to .565 and the club had 14 kills with one error (23 attempts).
 
Leading 9-6 in game one, NJCU reeled off nine consecutive points behind the serve of Sorrell. Prensa had a block and kill during the run and Wilcox provided two kills while PC committed five errors as the lead swelled to 18-6. The Knights ultimately scored 16 of the final 18 points of the game.
 
NJCU scored the first six points of game two behind the serve of Wilcox. Prensa had two kills during the spurt. Up 14-8, Prensa put away three kills over the next four points then served back-to-back aces as the lead surged to 21-9. NJCU's final run was 11-2 to win the set by 15.
 
Purchase kept it a little closer in the final game and tied NJCU twice in the early stages. Up 12-10, NJCU scored the next six points to up the margin to eight (18-10) and won the game by seven.
 
#KnightNotes

• Series: NJCU leads, 15-0 (11 sweeps).
• Ivan Prensa reached double figures in kills for the fourth time in his career—all this season.
• Daque Wilcox reached double figures in kills for the 18th time in his career and eighth time this season. He has 764 career kills.
• David Penaherrera reached double figures in digs for the sixth time.
• Sheldon Coure (754 kills) exceeded 750 career kills in the win. He has scored exactly 950.0 points.

 
#NextKnightTime:
On Saturday, April 2, NJCU will play the final two Skyline matches of the regular season when it meets Ramapo College (1 p.m.) and host Sarah Lawrence College (3 p.m.) in Yonkers, NY, leading up to the start of the Skyline Conference Tournament on April 6. It will be the 64th meeting with Ramapo. RCNJ leads the series, 51-11, since 2006 and has won the last 22 meetings. NJCU leads the series with Sarah Lawrence, 3-0, winning each via a sweep.
 
If NJCU wins both matches, it will clinch the No. 4 seed in the league tournament and a home match in the quarterfinals. However, if NJCU splits and Mount Saint Vincent (8-6 Skyline) sweeps sixth-place Purchase and seventh-place Yeshiva (4-10) on April 3, the Knights will head to Riverdale, NY for the quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed.