RIVERDALE, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team won the first two sets and crushed 71 kills as four men reached double figures. But the Gothic Knights committed 23 service errors and host College of Mount Saint Vincent rallied to win the final three sets and edge NJCU in the Skyline Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, 3-2 (20-25, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-9) on April 6. NJCU had a substantial 71-45 cushion in kills in the loss.
 
Mount (15-14), the No. 4 seed, advances to face top-seeded and four-time defending Skyline champion Kean in Friday's semifinal round. NJCU (18-18), the fifth seed, loses a conference tournament match for the fifth consecutive season. It was the second time this year Mount defeated NJCU in five sets.
 
The loss spoiled a sensational effort for sophomore middle hitter Jalen Sorrell (Edison, N.J./John P. Stevens) who hit a dominant .621 with 21 kills and only three errors in 29 swings—eight more kills than his previous career high. He also had two blocks and two aces.
 
Senior outside hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) put away 17 kills at a .345 percentage (17-7-29) while Skyline Player of the Week and senior middle hitter Ivan Prensa (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) pounded 14 kills, hit .281 (14-5-32) and stuffed three blocks.
 
Senior outside hitter Daque Wilcox (Fredericksburg, Va./Camden County Tech, NJ) was the fourth Gothic Knight in double figures, collecting 14 kills at a .219 pace (14-7-32), adding eight digs and two blocks.
 
Freshman setter Erick Nascimento (Miami, Fla./Alonzo Tracy Mourning) distributed 61 assists with eight digs while freshman libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) dished 18 assists to equal a career high. Senior right side Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional) had four blocks.
 
In all, Mount scored 51 points off the two most prominent Gothic Knight error statistics—28 attack errors and 23 service errors.
 
Tyler Cucullu accounted for half of the Dolphins' offense, producing a match-high 23 kills. He hit .452 (23-4-42) and added 10 digs and two aces for a double-double.
 
Jordan Steiger added 14 kills at a .393 percentage (14-3-28) with six digs. The rest of the Mount team had just eight total kills. Setter Logan Dickover finished with 41 assists and eight digs and Sean O'Connor finished with 10 digs.
 
How It Happened:
 
NJCU overcame seven early ties (three lead changes) in game one. NJCU had a 75 percent sideout rate and hit .435 as a team with 13 kills. Tied 10-10, an ace by Wilcox and kills by Nascimento and Sorrell made it 14-11 before a Tribbett ace and Sorrell kill pushed it to 17-12. Consecutive kills by Coure and Sorrell made it 19-13 and Prensa and Coure pounded swings for a 23-17 margin. Coure won the game with a kill.
 

The Knights had 14 kills in game two and hit .375. Tied at 14-14, a kill by Coure, a Prensa ace and a CMSV attack error made it a three-point lead (17-14). When Mount narrowed it to one (18-17), an ace by Coure and Sorrell smash helped swell the lead to 21-17. The Dolphins drew within 21-19 before Sorrell and Wilcox had consecutive kills and Sorrell unleashed back-to-back aces to clinch the 2-0 lead.
 
In the third set, a 17-9 advantage in kills for NJCU wasn't enough. A 5-0 run early in the set allowed the hosts to build a 9-4 lead. Trailing 23-19, kills by Coure and Prensa and an O'Connor attack error cut it to 23-22. After a Mount point, Coure again cut it to 24-23 with a winner before a bad set by NJCU gave the Dolphins a 25-23 win.
 
An offensive battle ensued in game four when NJCU held an 18-13 cushion in kills. NJCU led 12-8 before the Dolphins scored five straight points, including two kills by Steiger and three Knight attack errors for a 13-12 lead. The run expanded to 8-1 and another Steiger kill following an Owen Smith/Cucullu block made it 16-13. When NJCU drew within one, 21-20, the Dolphins scored the final four points of the game—a winner by Steiger, two kills by Smith and a Cucullu kill—to force a fifth set, 25-20.  
 
Mount never trailed in the decisive fifth set, scoring the first three points while hitting .467 with seven kills against no errors (15 attempts). Down 7-3, NJCU got a winner by Coure and two Sorrell kills to shave the deficit to 7-6. Two more kills by Wilcox kept the Knights close, down 8-7 and 9-8. But kills by Steiger and Smith made it an 11-8 lead and NJCU followed with three consecutive attack errors (14-8) to give CMSV multiple match points. A putaway by Cucullu sealed the 15-9 outcome.
 
#KnightNotes

• Series vs. Mount Saint Vincent: 52nd meeting. NJCU leads all-time series, 29-23; CMSV won 2-of-3 during 2016 season.
• NJCU falls to 0-5 all-time in the Skyline Tournament.
• Jalen Sorrell's previous career high was 13 kills on February 28, 2015 vs. Sage. He reached double figures in kills for the seventh time in his career (fourth time in 2016).
• Ivan Prensa reached double figures in kills for the seventh time in his career—all this season—including four consecutive matches and five of the last six.
• Daque Wilcox reached double figures in kills for the 19th time in his career and ninth time this season. He has 786 career kills and 1031.5 points.
• Sheldon Coure reached double figures in kills for the 28th time in three years and 11th time in 2016. He has 780 career kills and 981.5 career points.
• David Penaherrera reached double figures in digs for the eighth time this season.

 
#NextKnightTime:
NJCU will close the regular season and celebrate Senior Day on Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts Pratt Institute at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court). Prior to the match NJCU will honor its five-man senior class—outside hitter Raymel Castro (Newark, N.J./Barringer), Coure, Prensa, Tribbett and Wilcox.