JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team closed out its New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) slate for the 2021 season on Tuesday night, Oct. 26, as the Gothic Knights suffered the 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19) defeat against Montclair State University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC). Despite the loss, NJCU played a strong game at points and gave itself some momentum to build on heading into the squad's final two matches of the regular-season.
The Gothic Knights (13-10, 1-7 NJAC) trailed big early in the first set at 6-1 and 7-2 versus the Red Hawks (18-10, 7-1 NJAC), however as they did a couple of times on the night, the Knights came back to make it competitive. NJCU went on a 6-2 run of its own to make it a 9-8 game in favor of MSU, including a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter
Alexis Newsome (Watchung, N.J./Hudson Catholic). The home team was able to stay within striking distance throughout the first, unfortunately Montclair State ultimately came away with the 25-18 win.
After a second set that was more closely controlled by the Red Hawks, NJCU turned it on in the third. The Gothic Knights found themselves down early once again, this time by an 8-3 deficit. However, Jersey City turned on the jets to the tune of a 7-2 run to tie it up at 10-10. Freshman outside hitter
Brenda Gonzalez (Union City, N.J./Dickinson) notched three kills during that run, while senior middle blocker
Leah Seickendick (Hoboken, N.J./Hudson Catholic) picked up a pair.
From there, the Red Hawks once again seized momentum and jumped out to a 22-13 lead. It was then when the Gothic Knights made their final push of the night with 6-1 run to make it 23-19 — three of those kills came from Seickendick. Montclair, however, would win the final two points to take the match.
Highlights:
- Senior libero
Madeline Lopez (Elizabeth, N.J./Hudson Catholic) had a strong night after leading all players in digs (13).
- Seickendick had yet another efficient night swinging and finished with eight kills and three errors on 14 attempts (.357 hitting percentage).
- Freshman outside hitter
Rachael Pharo (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) ended with six kills.
- Sophomore setter
Sydney Lore (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) ended the match with four kills and an error on seven swings (.429) to go with a team-high 22 assists.
What's Next:
NJCU returns to the JMAC for two more non-conference matches at home before its regular-season comes to a close. Up first will be on Thursday night, Oct. 28, at 7:00 p.m. when Mount Saint Mary College comes to Jersey City as the Gothic Knights also celebrate Senior Night during the pre-game ceremonies. Then, the Knights close out their regular-season on Saturday morning, Oct. 30, at 11:00 a.m. against S. Joseph's College-L.I.
