ALBANY, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | An up-and-down 2018 season was punctuated with the continuation of a long streak as New Jersey City University men's volleyball team (10-16) split a season-ending non-conference tri-match—holding off Lehman College in five sets, 3-2, before losing a 3-0 decision to host The Sage Colleges at Kahl Gym. The win over Lehman was NJCU's third consecutive victory in the final week and allowed NJCU to win its 10th match—the 27th consecutive season since 1992 the Gothic Knights have produced a double-digit win total in men's volleyball.
 
Freshman setter Luis Ayala (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) had 50 assists and helped lead four players with double figure kills as NJCU defeated Lehman, 3-2 (12-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13)-rallying from a 9-4 deficit in the fifth set to pull out the victory . Meanwhile, Sage hit .471 and had a 41-15 margin in kills as the Gators swept the finale, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-11)
 
MATCH 1: New Jersey City def. Lehman, 3-2 (12-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13)
Ayala had a career-high 50 assists and 11 digs for his second career double-double and sophomore middle blocker Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) smashed a career-high 18 kills as the Gothic Knights bounced back from a sluggish start to best Lehman (14-17).
 
It was the second time this season NJCU and Lehman went the distance and was retribution for NJCU which lost a home to Lehman on February 8, 3-2 (25-21, 25-21, 18-25, 16-25, 14-16) after leading the match 2-0.
 
Each team had 58 kills and NJCU won despite hitting far less efficient than the Lightning (.140 to .248) while committing 13 more attack errors (34 vs. 21) while Lehman tallied 9.5 blocks. Lehman had the advantage in most statistical categories.
 
Moreira's 18 kills were four more than he has had in any previous match, hitting .289 with a line of 18-5-45 and three blocks (two solo). Sophomore outside hitter J.J. Berdecia (West New York, NJ/Memorial) defended a match-high 19 digs and added 11 kills for his second double-double of the season and in his career.
 
Freshman middle Dave Etienne (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) contributed 11 kills and hit .250 (11-5-24). Sophomore outside Edgar Crespo (Newark, NJ/Science Park) also collected his first career double-double with 13 digs and 10 kills, hitting .261 (10-4-23). Junior libero David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) defended 10 digs.
 
Lehman was carried by the play of sophomore middle Peter Veljovic (Bronx, N.Y.) with a match-high 23 kills, hitting .388 (23-4-49) and a match-best equaling 19 digs.
 
Junior middle blocker Yaw Eshun (Ghana, West Africa) totaled 19 kills (.189, 19-9-53) and seven blocks with 13 digs and senior Jose Bautista (Bronx, N.Y.) gave out 45 assists at setter.
 
Also for Lehman, freshman middle Xayveon Williams (Bronx, N.Y.) hit .643 with 10 kills (10-1-14) and six blocks. Freshman libero Juan Carlos Santos (Bronx, N.Y.) finished with 12 digs.
 
Lehman hit .458 in game one with 13 kills when it never trailed after jumping out to a 10-2 lead. NJCU put away 15 kills in the second and third sets to claim a pair of 25-23 wins to tie the match then go in front.
 
Lehman nearly rallied twice in game two. With NJCU ahead 18-11 and 19-13 in the second set, a 7-1 run including five straight points, cut the lead to 19-18, after three NJCU attack errors and five overall in the 7-1 stretch. Kills by Etienne and Moreira gave NJCU three set points, leading 24-21; the Lightning cut it to 24-23 before committing a service error.
 
In a back-and-forth third set that saw nine ties and four lead changes, Lehman continued to lead, 20-19, before a solo block and kill by Moreira and a kill by Stawicki put NJCU on top, 23-22. NJCU had two set points after a Lehman error before sealing it on the second chance, 25-23, with a Berdecia winner.
 
Lehman had 15 kills in game four when it had a 75 percent sideout rate 15-20) and hit .286 (15-5-35) to force a fifth set. The Knights led 7-4 early before Lehman unleashed an 8-0 lead to seize a 12-7 lead and NJCU couldn't counter it. Williams had three kills during the stretch.
 
In the fifth set, Lehman was primed to win again, posting a 9-4 advantage after three straight kills, the final from Veljovic. But NJCU's fortune changed as NJCU responded with a 5-0 run to tie it at 9-9. Moreira had two kills, sandwiched around one from Crespo, and Lehman committed two errors. Lehman went back in front, 11-9, as Veljovic had two kills before Ayala and Crespo put away attacks to tie it at 11-11. There were five ties and three lead changes in the set as NJCU hit .304 (9-2-23). Lehman's last lead was 12-11 when Williams notched his 19th kill. But a service error by Bautista gave NJCU sideout and Ayala uncorked back-to-back aces on Veljovic, to seize a 14-12 lead and two match points. A kill by Veljovic cut the lead to one (14-13) before Crespo sealed the 15-13 win with 10th kill.
 
Lehman lost despite hitting .400 with 11 kills and one error (25 attempts) in the fifth set. Lehman had just a 46 percent sideout rate in the fifth set (7-15).
 

MATCH 2: Sage def. New Jersey City, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-11)
Sage (13-14) committed just eight attack errors to dominate the match. The Gators hit .520 in game one with 16 kills (16-3-25) and .556 in the third set (12-2-18) when it manufactured a 91 percent sideout rate (11-12). Overall, Sage sided out at a stellar 82 percent (37-45) in the win and NJCU's sideout percentage was just 47 percent (35-73). The Gators put down 12.0 blocks in three games.
 
The biggest contributor was Ryan Guyton who hit a ridiculous .800 with 16 kills in 20 swings (no errors). He added two blocks and two aces. Bailey Cecchi hit .476 (13-3-21) with six digs, three aces and two blocks. Those two players combined for 29 of the 41 kills.
 
Also for Sage, senior libero Casey Fitzpatrick (Haverhill, Mass.) defended 10 digs. Sophomore 6-foot-10 middle hitter Scott Sanders (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit .556 with six kills (6-1-9) and six blocks (five assisted). Junior setter Austin Laverty (Schenectady, N.Y.) dished 19 assists and three assists and freshman setter Ryan Jennings (North Brunswick, N.J.) gave out 15 assists.
 
In defeat, Ayala had 14 assists and five digs for NJCU. Crespo had a team-high five kills. Moreira finished with three blocks. NJCU had 24 errors in 75 attempts and hit -.120 overall.
 
In the opening set, Sage led 12-11 before the Gators scored four straight, including back-to-back winners by Guyton. The lead ballooned to 10-2 as the lead grew to 22-13. In game two, Sage led 9- 7 before seizing control with a 5-1 spurt; Cecchi had three kills during the run and sophomore middle Shane Wenz (Valatie, N.Y.) teamed for a pair of blocks. Leading 11-7 in the third set, a 10-2 run, including five consecutive points, elevated the lead to 21-9, as Sage sealed the 3-0 win.
 
 NOTABLES:

• Series vs. Lehman: 42nd meeting. NJCU leads, 27-15. NJCU has won 22 of the last 25 meetings; Lehman won the last two.
• Series vs. Sage: 13th meeting. Sage leads, 8-5.
• NJCU concludes its 29th season with an all-time record of 453-407 in 860 matches (.527%).
• David Penaherrera (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) has defended 10+ digs in a match 29 times in his 87-match career, including 10 times this season.
• Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) has reached double figures in kills 26 times in 52 matches in his NJCU career.
• Edgar Crespo (Newark, NJ/Science Park) reached 10+ digs for the 10th time. The 10 kills were a career high; his previous best was nine vs. CCNY on February 14, 2017.
• J.J. Berdecia (West New York, NJ/Memorial) had a career high 11 kills. It was his fifth career match of 10+ kills, having exactly 10 kills four previous times.
• J.J. Berdecia (West New York, NJ/Memorial) had a career-high 19 digs. His previous high was 14 at Wilkes on February 25. He has reached 10+ digs six times this season and 10 times as a collegian.
• Luis Ayala (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth)'s previous assists high was 36 at Mount Saint Vincent in four sets on February 3. He was the primary setter with freshman Alexander Umanzor (West New York, NJ/Memorial) and sophomore Jimmy Vega (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) both missing the tri-match. He reached 10+ digs for the second time this season, also have 11 digs earlier this week at St. Elizabeth.
• Dave Etienne (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) had his fourth effort of 10+ kills.

 
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