PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |New Jersey City University played its first of three Skyline Conference tri matches this season on March 18, losing to Purchase College, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22) in a neutral-site contest, before falling to host St. Joseph's College (LI), 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-16). The Gothic Knights fell to 7-11 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

MATCH 1: Purchase 3, New Jersey City 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22)
Purchase eked out a win in a game one that saw 12 ties and five lead changes, but never trailed in the second and third sets and outlasted the Gothic Knights. Purchase (10-5, 2-2 Skyline), which had lost the first 15 meetings ever against NJCU, defeated the Knights for the second this season—both in three sets.
 
The Panthers were powered by Kevin Carges, who posted a match-high 19 kills and a .368 attack percentage in 38 swings (five errors) while adding six digs and a solo block. Purchase held a 37-33 margin in kills and hit .224 (37-15-98).
 
Freshman middle Christian Ramirez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) was NJCU's top performer, hitting a match-best .667 with nine kills (one error) in 12 attacks while adding a solo block. Freshman middle hitter/right side Jonathan Andrews (Palisades Park, N.J./North Bergen) was right with him, hitting a stellar .500 with nine kills against just one error in 16 swings, while stuffing two blocks. Freshman setter Jimmy Vega (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) dished 27 assists, adding two blocks and two kills in seven attacks (.286).
 
Freshman right side/middle hitter Julian Moreira (Miami, Fla./Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) also had nine kills with six digs as he, Ramirez and Andrews combined for 27 of NJCU's 33 winners. Sophomore libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) defended 11 digs with freshman outside hitter J.J. Berdecia (West New York, N.J./Memorial) tallying 10 digs and two aces.
 
For Purchase, Andrew Schwab added nine kills, seven digs, six assists and hit .200 while Riley Damerell paced the offense with 27 assists, five kills and two aces.
 
In the opening set, the clubs were tied 14-14 before NJCU committed five consecutive errors as the Panthers grabbed a 19-14 lead. NJCU would rally with five straight points of its own—three Panther errors and a kill and block by Andrews, both times teaming with Vega, to claim a 22-21 lead. But Purchase would run off the final four points, tying it on an NJCU service error before moving ahead on a solo block by Damerell. An ace by Andreo Otiniano ended the game.
 
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-2 lead in game two and increased it to 19-11 before holding off a late Gothic Knight rally bid. Purchase seized a 7-2 margin in the third set although NJCU was able to whittle the deficit to two at 12-10 and 18-16, before the Panthers took advantage of four consecutive Knight errors to take a 22-16 advantage it wouldn't relinquish.
 
MATCH 2: St. Joseph's (LI) 3, New Jersey City 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-16)
St. Joseph's never trailed in any set and had a 42-20 margin in kills in the first meeting between the schools. The Golden Eagles, a promising first-year program, improved to 13-7 (2-0 Skyline) by limiting NJCU to a -.034 attack percentage, forcing 23 errors. NJCU had just a 41 percent sideout rate in the loss (30-73).
 
 

Paul Curaro paced the Eagles with 14 kills, 11 digs and two aces while hitting .292 and setter Tyler Jones delivered 40 assists and six digs. Four other players had six kills apiece, including Matt Cole who hit .625 (6-1-8) and Matthew Amberge added six kills, hitting .385 (6-1-13) with four blocks (two solo).
 
No Gothic Knight had more than five kills with Ramirez and Berdecia collecting five each. Andrews hit .231 with four kills (4-1-13). Vega finished with 20 assists and five digs.
 
SJC hit .400 with 15 kills in game one (15-3-30) but NJCU hung tough, landing 12 winners (12-5-31, .226). Down 14-9, NJCU battled back, tying it at 14-14 with Andrews and Moreira each planting a pair of kills. But the Eagles ran off the next four points, sparked by a pair of Curaro kills. The hosts scored the final four points of the game, including back-to-back aces by Curaro. The Eagles had 13 and 14 kills, respectively, in the second and third sets with the Knights hitting in negative territory in both games. It jumped out to 19-6 and 17-9 leads in those final two sets.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Purchase: NJCU leads, 15-2 (11 NJCU sweeps)
• Series vs. St. Joseph's (LI): First meeting.
• David Penaherrera notched his 15th career effort of double digit digs (seventh of season).
• J.J. Berdecia reached double digits in digs for the third time this season.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU will be back in action on Tuesday, March 21 (7 p.m.) when it visits St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) in Brooklyn, N.Y. in a Skyline match. The schools first met last year and NJCU has won both previous meetings in 3-0 sweeps. The Bears (2-18, 0-2 Skyline) have lost three straight and are just 1-7 at home.

—www.NJCUGothicKnights.com | @NJCUAthletics—