JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team (3-7, 0-2 NJAC) will face a stiff test on Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center when they host the defending New Jersey Athletic Conference women's volleyball champions Kean University (9-3, 2-0 NJAC).
 
The Gothic Knights have been beaten in straight sets in each of their conference matches so far in 2018, while Kean are undefeated and have dropped only one set in their two NJAC matches.
 
The Cougars are led by a balanced offensive attack, with four hitters having tallied 80+ kills on the season so far. Leading the way in that regard is returning First-Team All-NJAC selection Vikki Stec (Elmwood Park, N.J.) who has 114 kills on the season. Junior middle hitter Jesse Larkin (Redwood City, Calif.) was a Second-Team All-NJAC selection last year and has been having an excellent 2018 season as well. She is first among starters with a .345 hitting percentage, and, standing 6-0, she is averaging nearly a block per set (0.88/set).
 
The Cougars are riding a five-match win streak heading into Thursday, having not dropped a single set in any of their past three victories. They head to Pittsburgh for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational over the weekend, with a pair of matches both Friday and Saturday, so it will be interesting to see how they handle their rotations.
 
As for the Knights, they have dropped their last two, including a tight, five-set match against Alvernia over the past weekend. They faced another NJAC opponent on the road on Tuesday, falling in straight sets to Montclair State. Thursday's matchup with Kean with be their second home NJAC match after having fallen 3-0 to Ramapo College back on September 11.
 
Freshman Yaidettive Vega (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) had the best match of her NJCU career the last time the Knights played, and it will be interesting to see whether she can build on that momentum in what will be another tough NJAC matchup.
 
2018 NJCU Leaders:

• Points: Pamela Florimon (Teaneck, NJ/Memorial) (110.0)
• Kills: Florimon (96)
• Assists: Shaylah Ware (Newark, NJ/Science Park) (227)
• Service aces: Stephanie Duque (West New York, NJ/Memorial) (24)
• Digs: Georgina Rayo (Jersey City, NJ/McNair Academic) (122)
• Solo blocks: Naiomi Cintron (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) (6)

 
NOTES:

• Series record: Kean leads 35-7 and have won the last eight meetings since 2010.

 
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