PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The two-time reigning Skyline Conference men's volleyball champion Eagles of St. Joseph's College (Long Island) showed that they were up to the task of a new challenger in the form of the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University (8-8, 2-3 Skyline) on March 4 at the Danzi Athletic Center. The Eagles (12-7, 1-1 Skyline) swept the Knights, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-18), running away after a tightly contested first set.
 
Despite the sweep, junior captain Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) had another outstanding evening, with a match-high 15 kills. Sophomore setter Leo Ferrari (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) paced the offense with 24 assists and seven digs, while freshman middle blocker Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) collected three more blocks to go along with six kills at a .364 rate (6-2-11). Freshman outside Nicolas Figueroa (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) had a team-high eight digs.
 
For the Eagles, they had four players with at least seven kills, with senior outside hitter Paul Curaro (Holbrook, N.Y.) leading the way with 13, while hitting .400 (13-3-25). The Eagles, as a whole, hit .360 for the match with 42 kills.
 
Junior setter Jason Siriban (East Meadow, N.Y.) had 34 assists, while senior opposite Kyle Allen-Morabito (Manorville, N.Y.) had a strong all-around effort, with nine kills at a .571 pace (9-1-14) and five blocks. Senior outside David Slager (West Sayville, N.Y.) had a match-high 11 digs. Senior Will Flohr (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) had nine digs and eight kills while senior middle Kyle Biggers (Holbrook, N.Y.) was nearly perfect on attack, hitting .875 with seven kills (no errors) in eight swings.
 
The first set was a tight affair, with no team getting out to larger than a three-point lead at any point in the game. A kill from freshman opposite Martin Chromulak (Garfield, NJ/Garfield) made it 14-12 in favor of NJCU midway through the set, but SJCLI responded with four straight to force an NJCU timeout. A Ferrari ace gave the Knights a 21-20 lead a little while later, but after an Eagle timeout, they took five of the final six points to take the set by a final of 25-22. Both schools had 14 kills in the opening set.
 
The two teams came out even to start the second, with the Eagles mostly holding a slight advantage, before NJCU tied things up at 13-13 midway through the game. However, the Knights couldn't catch a break and the Eagles went on a rampage down the stretch, going on a 12-1 run to end the set with the hefty 25-14 margin. SJCLI had a 15-8 margin in kills in the set and hit .423 overall.
 
The Eagles extended that run into the start of the third, getting out to an early 10-4 lead and never trailing in the final set, eventually winning, 25-18. The hosts landed 13 kills in the final set.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: This was only the third meeting between the two sides, with SJCLI now leading, 3-0.
• Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) reached double-digit kills for the ninth time in 14 matches in 2020, and the 17th time in his NJCU career.

 
UP NEXT:
NJCU actually faces off with the Eagles once again, this time as part of a tri-match at Yeshiva on Saturday, March 8 in New York, N.Y. They face off with SJCLI at noon, before squaring off with Yeshiva University (2-8, 1-3 Skyline) at 2:00 p.m.
 
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