Box Score 1 | Box Score 3 JERSEY CITY,  N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore outside hitter Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) used a scintillating third set to unleash a single-match school record nine service aces to lead the New Jersey City University men's volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of the College of Saint Elizabeth, 25-19, 25-21, 25-13, in the nightcap of a non-conference tri-match on March 23 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (Coach Charlie Brown Court).
 
In the opening match, NJCU outplayed Brooklyn College except in several key junctures and were surprised by the Bulldogs in five sets, 3-2 (14-25, 26-24, 26-24, 20-25, 15-10).
 
With a 1-1 result on the day, NJCU improved to 10-11 overall and reaches double figures in wins for the 28th consecutive season since 1992.
 
In a neutral court match in the middle of the day, Brooklyn outlasted Saint Elizabeth 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 15-7). The Bulldogs, winning twice on the day, improved to 9-11. With two losses CSE dropped to 4-11.
 
Andrews had a combined 12 aces in six sets on the day and registered four in the first two sets against Saint Elizabeth. He was handed the ball with NJCU leading 18-12 in the third set and powered back-to-back aces for a 20-12 lead. After a block by NJCU momentarily ended the string, he uncorked three consecutive aces for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th points to make it a 24-12 lead and give the Gothic Knights match point. The nine aces break the school record of eight aces accomplished five times, including last year by teammate Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus), and Andrews notched the feat in only three sets.
 
MATCH 1: Brooklyn 3, NJCU 2 (14-25, 26-24, 26-24, 20-25, 15-10)
In a loss that may complicate NJCU's chances of qualifying for the ECAC Division III Tournament, the Gothic Knights outplayed BC in virtually every offensive category yet played inconsistently during important stretches. Tied 7-7 in the final set, Brooklyn scored seven consecutive points to upset NJCU at home.
 
NJCU had 15 more kills (51-36), a sizeable better hitting percentage (.156 vs. .070), more aces (13-9) and more assists (46-34) but sabotaged its opportunities by committing 23 service errors (13 for BC) and 30 attack errors.
 
In defeat, junior right side/outside hitter Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) matched a career high with 18 kills to lead all players (18-10-49, .163) and added a career-best 10 digs and two aces for his first career double-double. Sophomore outside hitter Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) put away 15 kills (.189, 15-8-37) and added nine digs, three blocks and three aces.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman outside Leo Ferrari (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) started at setter and in the new role had 38 assists, eight digs and six aces but committed nine service errors. Sophomore middle Christian Ramirez (West New York, NJ/Memorial) hit .556 with five kills (5-0-9) and three blocks.
 
Junior middle hitter Gabriel Pjatak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced BC with 14 kills, seven blocks (two solo) and four aces. Senior setter Sayuj Zachariah (Floral Park, N.Y.) dished 31 assists. Also for the winners, freshman middle Omar Rezika (Alexandria, Egypt) had nine kills and three blocks. Freshman outside Jasper Diangco (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore libero Snigdho Hasan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each had 11 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• NJCU never trailed in set one, winning by 11. The Bulldogs had nine attack errors and hit -.263 in the game and NJCU had a 73 percent sideout rate (11-15) to cruise to the win.
• Game two was starkly different— a see-saw battle that included 20 ties and 10 lead changes. Neither side led by more than two at any point and NJCU gained set point on a kill by Ramirez, 24-23. But Brooklyn answered with a block by Pjatak to tie it at 24-24 and NJCU committed back-to-back attack errors to hand the Bulldogs the win.
• NJCU was sluggish from the start in game three, committing five early attack errors and Brooklyn shocked NJCU, jumping out to 9-0 lead. A kick save dig helped the lead extend to 11-3. NJCU began to whittle the deficit away, one point at a time. An ace by Ferrari off the net and a kill by rookie middle Jeffry Rodriguez (Elizabeth, NJ/John E. Dwyer Technology AcademyElizabeth, N.J. (John E. Dwyer Technology Academy) began the comeback more than halfway through the game. A kill by Andrews and an ace by Moreira, the eighth for NJCU, cut the deficit to two, 17-15. After a timeout, Rezika had back-to-back kills. Andrews answered with consecutive kills, including punishing an over ball to make it 19-17. NJCU missed a blocking assignment and BC got an uncontested kill but served wide to keep it 20-18. On a broken play, Moreira dumped the ball into open space to draw within one (20-19). A block by Ramirez and Andrews tied it 20-20. Even at 21-21, BC pushed the lead back to 23-21 on a Pjatak kill, got one back on a Moreira blast before but Pjatak landed a crosscourt winner for a 24-22 lead. NJCU battled back again to tie it at 24-24 on a pair of Brooklyn errors. However, NJCU couldn't finish the comeback. A kill by sophomore Michael Valentin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made it 25-24 and Pjatak uncorked an ace on set point to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
• In the fourth, defense sparked NJCU early on as two great defensive saves by Ferrari with a foot and then Andrews out of bounds, and after an early deficit, two aces in a row by Ferrari put NJCU on top, 12-10. Up two, NJCU scored the next four points, including an ace by Rodriguez for an 18-12 lead, which extended to 20-13 on a Ramirez swing. NJCU was up 24-16 and Brooklyn staved off four set points to draw within 24-20 before Moreira sealed it with a monster kill, 25-20.
• An even fifth set saw six ties, including 7-7, after a kill by Moreira at the end of a long rally. But BC scored the next seven points—two attack errors followed by kills from Valentin and Pjatak for an 11-7 lead which reached 14-7 after two more kills by Pjatak sandwiched around an ace by Zachariah. NJCU couldn't draw closer than 14-10.

 

MATCH 2: Brooklyn 3, Saint Elizabeth 2 (22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 15-7)
In another five-set contest, Brooklyn(9-11) outlasted Saint Elizabeth (4-10). Each team had 50 kills but the Bulldogs stood out with 17 aces in the match. CSE had 9.0 blocks.
 
Pjatak had 18 kills and hit .314 for the Bulldogs and Rezika landed 16 kills. Zachariah finished with 37 assists and nine digs while Hasan defended 15 digs and Diangco added 10 digs. Six different BC players had two or more aces.
 
For CSE, sophomore middle Justin Millan (West Caldwell, N.J.) chalked up 16 kills and seven blocks while hitting .312. Freshman outside/setter Daniel Chavez (Bloomfield, N.J.) produced 12 kills, 17 assists , nine digs and four blocks. Freshman Frank Rossi, Jr. chipped in 25 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore CJ Koskulitz (Bridgewater, N.J.) finished  with nine kills and nine digs.
 
MATCH 3: NJCU def. Saint Elizabeth, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-13).
NJCU trailed just once in the entire match as it bounced back with a victory in just 58 minutes of court time. NJCU led wire-to-wire in game one and never trailed (two ties) in game two. Ahead 13-11 in the third set, NJCU ran off a 12-2 run to close the match, including eight consecutive points behind the serving of Andrews to extend a 16-12 margin to 24-12.
 
Andrews had his nine aces and not far off from triple-double territory, adding eight digs and seven kills with a .333 attack percentage (7-2-15). Rodriguez had a team-high eight kills and hit .385 (8-3-13) with three blocks, and Ferrari and Moreira each finished with seven kills.
 
Junior setter Jimmy Vega (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) produced 18 assists and three aces while freshman setter Aaron Mantilla (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) chipped in 10 assists and four aces.
 
NJCU outhit CSE in kills, 33-15, and limited the Eagles to a .020 attack rate. No player had more than four kills; Chavez finished with five blocks.
 

NJCU MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: MOST SERVICE ACES IN A MATCH
# OF ACES	PLAYER	DATE	OPPONENT (RESULT)	# OF SETS PLAYED
9	Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen)	3/23/2019	St. Elizabeth (Won, 3-0)	3
8	Billy Narath	2/26/1994	Bridgeport (Won, 3-0)	3
8	Jose Martinez	1/25/2001	at Polytechnic (Won, 3-0)	2
8	Jose Martinez	2/1/2001	Yeshiva (Won, 3-0)	2
8	Robert Griffiths	2/5/2005	Medgar Evers (Won, 3-0)	3
8	Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus)	2/9/2018	St. Joseph's-Brooklyn (Won, 3-0)	3
7	7 times

OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Brooklyn:  26th meeting. NJCU leads all-time, 24-2. Brooklyn has won the last two meetings in 2018 and 2019.
• Series vs. Saint Elizabeth: The Knights are 3-0 all-time against the Eagles (all 3-0 sweeps).
• Julian Moreira (Miami, FL/Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Biscayne Bay Campus) reached double figures in kills for the seventh time this season and the 33rd time in 70 matches in his NJCU career.
• Moreira matched his career kills high of 18 vs. Lehman on April 7, 2018. His previous high for digs was eight on three occasions in 2017.
• Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) reached double figures in kills for the seventh time in his career and fourth time this season.

 
UP NEXT:
NJCU plays its final weekday match of the season on Thursday, March 28 when it visits John Jay College in New York, N.Y. at 6 p.m. It will be the first meeting since March 26, 2015 and only the second since 2002. NJCU leads the all-time series, 18-0 (10-0 at home).
 
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