GLENSIDE, Pa. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's volleyball program was widely outhit at the net and dropped a pair of matches on February 18 in the Knight Classic, hosted by Arcadia University.
 
Nationally No. 15 ranked Nazareth College hit .484 on attack and nearly doubled NJCU's kill total, 39-20, in a 3-0 result (25-20, 25-9, 25-18) in the day's first match. Arcadia, a talented first-year program, had a 50-29 differential in kills in the second match, holding off the Gothic Knights, 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 14-25). It was NJCU's first-ever meeting with either program and the losses (2-7) snapped the team's two-match winning streak. Nazareth improved to 12-6 while Arcadia evened its rookie ledger at 7-7.
 
MATCH 1: Nazareth 3, NJCU 0 (25-20, 25-9, 25-18)
Nazareth never trailed and aces the Knights 11 times in the sweep. Naz had 39 kills against just nine attack errors (62 attempts) to post the sizzling hitting percentage. The Golden Flyers, members of the United Volleyball Conference, extended their winning streak to four.
 
No NJCU player had more than six kills and the Knights had twice as many attack errors as Nazareth (18-9). The Knights hit .034 in the setback. Freshman setter Jimmy Vega (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) had 18 assists.
 
Nazareth hit .400 in game one (12-4-20), then posted insane numbers in game two when the Flyers were a perfect 9-for-9 on sideout percentage and hit .833 as a team with 10 kills and no errors (12 attempts). It led 16-4. Naz polished off the win with 17 kills in the third game (17-5-30, .400). There were six ties in the third set and NJCU was within two (20-18) late before the Flyers scored the final five points of the game.
 
Naz was led by Ethan Ross with nine kills (.667, 9-1-12) and two blocks while Sam Bittker added seven kills and Kane Wittorff was a perfect 5-for-5 on attack. Seven players had at least three kills in a balanced offensive effort. Jake Kemp and Tyler Farnung split setting duties with 18 and 11 assists, respectively.
 
MATCH 2: Arcadia 3, NJCU 1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-14)
NJCU claimed the opening set, taking advantage of errors by the host team before Arcadia settled down to outlast the Gothic Knights. Arcadia chalked up 11.0 blocks and hit .214 while limiting NJCU to 29 kills and 30 attack errors (-.010).
 
Arcadia had a 14-6 margin in kills in game one when there were nine ties and four lead changes but the host Knights committed 11 attack errors to allow NJCU the opportunity to steal the opener.
 
Vega had 29 assists in the loss. Freshman right side/middle hitter Julian Moreira (Miami, Fla./Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) went into double figures with 10 but had 12 errors while getting 44 swings—12 more than any player on the court for either side. He finished with eight digs on a busy afternoon.
 
Freshman outside hitters J.J. Berdecia (West New York, N.J./Memorial) finished with seven kills and seven digs while freshman middle hitter/right side Jonathan Andrews (Palisades Park, N.J./North Bergen), the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week and ECAC South Player and Rookie of the Week, had three blocks.
 
Two players had a dozen kills for Arcadia. Austin Braas hit .429 with 12 kills (12-3-21), three aces and three blocks (two solo) while Jason Manley matched him with 12 winners and 11 digs for a double-double effort. He added three blocks. Robie Moctezuma had a great individual effort hitting .583 with seven kills and no errors (12 attempts) while collecting seven assisted blocks.
 
Arcadia also received eight kills and five assisted blocks from Edwin Waters, Jr. and setter Sean Cohen distributed 44 assists with five digs.
 
Tied 22-22 in game one, kills by freshman middle hitter Christian Ramirez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) and Moreira helped NJCU close out the win. After the opening set win, Arcadia overcame nine ties in game two when it hit .407 with 15 kills (15-4-27). Tied at 12-12, Arcadia ran off the next five points—three straight attack errors by NJCU sparked it—and eight of the next nine points to seize a 20-13 lead. NJCU had four attack errors during that decisive stretch.  
 
There were six ties in game three when Arcadia had 12 kills. NJCU trailed 18-16 before a kill by Ramirez and back-to-back aces by freshman outside/setter James Amanonce (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris) gave NJCU a 19-18 lead. A kill by Berdecia (20-19) and a Waters attack error (21-20) twice gave NJCU back one-point leads after Arcadia tied it. But NJCU couldn't close out the period. Kills by Waters and Evan Misal made it 22-21, Arcadia, and the hosts scored the final five points to win, 25-21.
 
NJCU led 12-11 in game four before Arcadia unleashed a 10-0 run to move ahead 21-12 and seize the win. The run was fueled by Braas who had three aces.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Arcadia: First meeting.
• Series vs. Nazareth: First meeting.
• Julian Moreira reached double figures in kills for the sixth time in nine matches.
• The matches were the second and third of an eight-match road trip for NJCU.
• The .484 percentage by Nazareth was the highest by an opponent since No. 2 New Paltz hit an opponent record .606 (50-7-71) against NJCU in New Paltz, N.Y. on April 9, 2014.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU has four road matches in New York next week against New York University (February 22), Pratt Institute (February 23) and a tri-match at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. on February 25 that will include the College of Staten Island. NYU is up first when NJCU meets the nationally No. 9 ranked Violets at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility in Brooklyn, N.Y. NYU (8-3, Won 4) leads the all-time series, 6-1, and has won the last six meetings, including a 3-0 win in Jersey City on February 25, 2016.