PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In its first action in 14 days, the New Jersey City University men's volleyball team dropped both ends of a non-conference tri-match on March 15, losing to Hunter College, 3-1 (25-18, 26-28, 25-15, 25-17) and host St. Joseph's College (LI), by a 3-0 outcome (25-9, 25-15, 25-14). NJCU dropped to 5-9 overall, losing for the third and fourth straight times.
 
MATCH 1: Hunter 3, New Jersey City 1 (25-18, 26-28, 25-15, 25-17)
NJCU pulled out the second set but the Hawks blitzed the Gothic Knights in the third and fourth games to win in four games. The Hawks had a 50-38 differential in kills, with 24 in the final two sets. Hunter hit .407 in the third set to take control of the match. Hunter hit .231 as a team, limiting the Knights to a .074 attack percentage.
 
In defeat, sophomore middle hitter Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) had 11 kills, hit .259 (11-4-27) and four blocks (two solo). Sophomore outside hitter J.J. Berdecia (West New York, NJ/Memorial) defended 12 digs. Sophomore setter Jimmy Vega (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) had 15 assists and nine digs and freshman setter Luis Ayala (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) finished with 12 assists.
 
For Hunter (13-6), senior libero Joseph Muir (Encino, Calif.) played stellar defense, dishing out 17 digs. Freshman setter Alec Helford (Massapequa, N.Y.) delivered 43 assists in 100 attempts and had three kills in three swings.
 
Junior outside Michael Jazgarski (Woodhaven, N.Y.) tallied 14 kills and freshman outside Daniel Kim (Plainview, N.Y.) added 12 kills, seven digs and two blocks. Senior middle Daniel Dobrogowski (Woodhaven, N.Y.) and junior outside Blake Hogan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) had identical lines of six kills in 12 swings, hitting .417; Dobrogowski added four blocks.
 
MATCH 2: St. Joseph's (LI) 3, New Jersey City 0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-14)
The Eagles improved to 15-6 overall and never trailed in the first or third sets. SJCLI hit .382 in the match, pounding out 39 kills against only 10 attack errors in 76 attempts. NJCU was limited to 21 kills and committed 23 errors (-.025).
 
In defeat, freshman right side Alexander Umanzor (West New York, NJ/Memorial) was NJCU's top performer, hitting .455 with seven kills (7-2-11). Vega had 10 assists.
 
For the Eagles, senior setter Michael Barfield (Holbrook, N.Y.) gave out 32 assists. Sophomore outside Paul Curaro had a match-high 11 kills and two aces while sophomore outside Will Flohr (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) tallied eight kills, seven digs and three blocks. Sophomore middle Matt Cole was a perfect 5-for-5 in kills, adding three blocks.
 
Also for SJCLI, sophomore middle Kyle Biggers (Holbrook, N.Y.) hit .400 with six kills (6-2-10) and two blocks. Sophomore outside David Slager (West Sayville, N.Y.) hit .385 with six kills (6-1-13) and six digs.
 
NOTABLES:

• Series vs. Hunter: 30th meeting; Hunter leads, 18-12.
• Series vs. St. Joseph's (LI): Second meeting; SJCLI leads, 2-0.

 
UP NEXT:
NJCU plays the first of three home matches in three days on Tuesday, March 20 when it hosts Purchase College at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court) at 7 p.m. NJCU leads the series 15-2; Purchase won twice last season, both by 3-0 scores.
 
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