WAYNE, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | William Paterson University only had one more kill than the New Jersey City University women's volleyball—32-31—but the Gothic Knights were inconsistent on attack, committing 23 errors, contributing to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-14) loss in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match on September 26 at the William Paterson Rec Center.
 
NJCU (6-6, 1-3 NJAC) received a match-high 12 kills from junior outside hitter Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, NJ/Harrison), who hit .206 (12-6-29), and junior outside Ayleen Pittar (Union City, NJ/Union City) had nine kills and seven digs, but the Knights hit .090 as a team on attack (31-23-89). NJCU had just a 36 percent (27-74) sideout rate in the loss.
 
William Paterson (8-5, 1-3 NJAC) won its first league match by limiting its attack errors to 10 while posting an impressive .319 percentage as a team (32-10-69).  Junior middle hitter Christine Griffith (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) hit .529 with 10 kills (10-1-17) and three blocks.
 
Also for the Pioneers, sophomore middle Alyson Toman (Secaucus, N.J.) added 10 kills at a .273 pace (10-4-22) while junior setter Kendall Caruso (Secaucus, N.J.) finished with 27 assists, eight digs and four service aces. Freshman opposite Dakota Apicella (Kendall Park, N.J.) added eight digs and two blocks and junior outside Amanda Lembo (North Haledon, N.J.) hit .400 (4-0-10).
 
In defeat for NJCU, senior setter Rachel McIntyre (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) tallied 25 assists. Freshman middle hitter Leah Seickendick (Hoboken, NJ/Hudson Catholic), the NJAC Rookie Player of the Week and junior opposite Naiomi Cintron (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) each had three block assists.
 
WP jumped out to a 10-1 lead in game one and never trailed. The Knights had a chance to even the match, leading 20-17 in game two. But the Pioneers countered with an 8-1 run to close out the set, scoring four in a row to claim a 21-20 lead, before scoring the final four points after NJCU tied it at 21-21. The Knights committed four errors to account for those final eight points.
 
In the third game, WP led 7-1. NJCU closed within four (10-6), before the hosts produced an 11-1 run to build a 21-7 margin and closed out the contest in three sets.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: 52nd meeting. William Paterson leads, 40-12, and has won the last nine meetings.

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU returns home on Thursday, September 28 at 7 p.m. in a non-conference match with Mount Saint Mary College (NY) at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center ('Coach Charlie Brown Court'). It will be the first meeting between the schools since a great match on October 26, 2013 in Jersey City. MSMC won that contest, 3-2, taking the final set, 15-13. The Blue Knights hold a slim 5-3 all-time lead in the series.

 
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