JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |New Jersey City University got back on the men's volleyball court for a match for the first time in two weeks and in its Skyline Conference opener swept Yeshiva University, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 26-24) on March 16 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center ('Coach Charlie Brown Court').  NJCU is 32-0 all-time against the Maccabees.
 
NJCU (7-9, 1-0 Skyline) had a 76 percent sideout rate in the win (43-56) and hit .293 as a team with a 43-23 differential in kills, paced by freshman setter Jimmy Vega (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) who posted a .500 setting percentage with 35 assists in 70 attempts. He added six digs and two kills on second-ball attacks (.500). Yeshiva dropped to 2-7 (0-1 Skyline).
 
Freshman middle hitter/right side Jonathan Andrews (Palisades Park, N.J./North Bergen) was overpowering in his one set of action, crushing five kills in five swings for a 1.000 percentage while stuffing three blocks. He did not play in the final two games.
 
Freshman right side/middle hitter Julian Moreira (Miami, Fla./Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) and freshman middle Christian Ramirez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) each reached double figures in kills. Moreira hit .286 with 11 kills (11-5-21) and three blocks while Ramirez posted a .353 attack on 10 kills (10-4-17).
 

Freshman outside hitter Edgar Crespo (Newark, N.J./Science Park) added five kills in seven swings (5-1-7) to hit .571, and sophomore libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) had five assists and five digs.
 
Yeshiva freshman outside Jonathan Greenberg (Cedarhurst, N.Y.), this week's Skyline Rookie of the Week, had six kills (.235, 6-2-17) while junior outside Mathew Rosenberg (Woodmere, N.Y.) added five kills and two blocks. Junior setter Michael Klein (New York, N.Y.) finished with 15 assists.
 
NJCU convincingly won sets one and two. The Gothic Knights hit .417 in game one with 14 kills (14-4-24) when it had an 80 percent sideout rate (12-15). NJCU shook off early rust in game one and pulled away in the middle of the set with a 9-1 run that saw a 12-7 lead swell into 21-8. Andrews and Moreira combined for back-to-back stuffs in the middle of the net to cap four straight points, and Andrews, who had two kills during the streak, later added a combo block with freshman outside hitter J.J. Berdecia (West New York, N.J./Memorial). NJCU led wire-to-wire in game two, tallying 10 kills and a 76 percent sideout (13-17).
 
NJCU has never lost a set to Yeshiva but the third game was a tossup, as the clubs traded 19 ties and six lead changes. The Knights had a 19-10 margin in kills in game three but committed nine attack errors and YU was largely error free at the net, hitting .308 in the game (10-2-26). Yeshiva gained a 20-18 lead after back-to-back NJCU attack errors. The Knights rallied to score the next three to gain a 21-20 lead, as Moreira and Berdecia each had kills, before the Maccabees regained a 22-21 edge on a kill and NJCU error. NJCU countered with a kill by freshman middle hitter Kamran Chaudhry (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris) and an ace by Berdecia before a Rosenberg tally evened it at 23-23. Vega gave NJCU its first match point (24-23) and after a ball handling error squared it again at 24-24, the Knights finally finished it, capitalizing on a blocking error before Moreira planted a kill on the second match point.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads, 32-0 (all sweeps).
• Julian Moreira reached double figures in kills for the 10th time in 16 matches.
• Christian Ramirez reached double figures in kills for the second time and the first since he had 15 on February 16 at Staten Island.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU heads to Patchogue, N.Y. for a Skyline tri-match on Saturday, March 18. NJCU meets Purchase College at 12 p.m. before facing the host, St. Joseph's College (LI) at 2 p.m., in the first-ever meeting against the impressive first-year club (11-7, 0-0 Skyline). Purchase (10-4, 1-1 Skyline) defeated NJCU in a non-conference road match on February 1, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-23)—the first-ever win for the Panthers against the Knights in 16 meetings (Series: 15-1, 11 sweeps).