JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team suffered a three-set (25-15, 25-17, 25-15) defeat at home tonight, Saturday, March 13, against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opposition Kean University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC).
The Gothic Knights (1-3, 1-3 NJAC) were riding a high after their
huge win on Thursday night, March 11, over William Paterson University, and it certainly showed early in the first set against the Cougars (2-2, 2-2 NJAC). Despite falling behind 8-2 and 13-7, NJCU was able to come back and make it a two-point game at 16-14 with a 7-3 run. However, Kean closed out the set with a strong 9-1 run to take the early 1-0 match lead.
Set number two started out tough for the Gothic Knights as they fell behind 13-4, but they were slowly able to chip away and make it an 18-12 game. Unfortunately the Cougars were able to take seven of the final 12 points of the set to take a 2-0 lead overall.
In the start of the third set, NJCU fell behind 5-2, but battled back to tie it up at 6-6 thanks to a pair of aces — one from junior
Krista Bartko (Edison, N.J./Edison) and one from her classmate Yaidettive Veta — as well as a kill from another junior in
Leah Seickendick (Hoboken, N.J./Hudson Catholic). They would fall behind again, this time at 11-6, but trimmed it down to an 11-10 game minutes later, which included an ace from freshman
Taylor-Michelle Coriolan (Roselle, N.J./Roselle Catholic) and a kill from fellow rookie
Sydney Lore (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee). However, Kean was able to control the remainder of the match en route to the win.
Highlights:
- Coriolan led NJCU with five kills, adding five digs, a block and an ace.
- Seickendick finished with a match-high three total blocks, adding one kill.
- Junior libero
Madeline Lopez (Elizabeth, N.J./Hudson Catholic) led the Gothic Knights with nine digs.
What's Next:
NJCU heads to Galloway, N.J., to face Stockton University on Tuesday night, March 16, at 7:00 p.m. The Gothic Knights' match against the Ospreys will be their final of the regular-season before they prepare to make their first NJAC Tournament appearance since the 2008 season.
