NEW YORK — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team picked up a pair of road Skyline Conference victories today, Sunday, March 7, over Yeshiva University. The Gothic Knights defeated the Maccabees in straight sets in both the first (25-10, 25-11, 25-9) and second (25-15, 25-8, 25-11) matches with almost completely different lineups in each.

Match 1:
The first set of the day was immediately controlled by NJCU (2-2, 2-0 Skyline) as the Gothic Knights jumped out to an 11-2 lead against Yeshiva (0-2, 0-2 Skyline) en route to the 25-10 win. Junior Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) dished out eight helpers and notched four aces to factor into 12 of his squad's 25 points. Set number two was much of the same as the Gothic Knights busted out of the gates to the tune of a 13-4 lead midway through before taking the 25-11 victory. Sophomore James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) was the offensive force for NJCU in this set and swung .571 with five kills on seven swings with one error. The third and final set actually started in favor of Yeshiva as the home squad jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 5-2. However, NJCU proceeded to go on a 13-2 run to take a 13-6 lead. Then, leading 13-8, the Gothic Knights closed out the set on 12-1 run to finish off the straight-set win. Bajor, senior Christian Ramirez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) and junior Aaron Mantilla (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) combined for 10 kills.

Highlights:
- As a team, the Gothic Knights hit .382 with 35 kills on 55 swings with 14 errors in the match. They held Yeshiva to a -.250 hitting percentage with just four kills and 11 errors on 28 swings.
- Bajor finished with a match-high 10 kills on 16 swings with five errors (.313 hitting percentage) to go with seven aces, two blocks and two digs.
- Ramirez and senior Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) each notched seven kills. Ramirez was extremely efficient, reaching his total on eight swings with just one error (.750).
- Ferrari finished with 26 assists, six aces, three digs and a block.

Match 2:
The first set was the most competitive of the day between the two squads. Yeshiva stayed with NJCU until it was 11-11 and as the Gothic Knights started to pull away, the Maccabees kept it close at 17-14. It was then that NJCU put its fut on the gas and finished the set with an 8-1 run to take the early 1-0 advantage in the match. Senior Alexander Umanzor (West New York, N.J./Memorial) dished out 10 assists in the set, evenly distributing those passes to rookies Mahmoud Serour (Kearny, N.J./Kearny), Christopher Castillo (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) and Hanel Collado (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen), as well as sophomores Martin Chromulak (Garfield, N.J./Garfield) and Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) — the quintet registered three kills apiece, other than DaSilva who notched a pair. In set two, the Gothic Knights led 6-5 early before running away with it at 25-8. Chromulak had four kills on five errorless swings and four aces, while Serour aced six serves. The final set of the day once again went the Gothic Knights' way to close out with a pair of victories.

Highlights:
- Overall, NJCU hit .339 with 35 kills on 66 swings with just 10 errors. Some strong defense forced YU into eight errors on 31 swings with just three kills (-.161).
- Chromulak had nine kills and one error on 12 swings (.667) to go with four aces.
- Serour finished with seven kills and an astounding 10 aces to go with five digs.
- Umanzor finished with 24 assists.

What's Next:
Up next for the Gothic Knights on Sunday, March 14, at home at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. is another pair of Skyline matches against Sarah Lawrence College. The Skyline currently does not allow fans to be in attendance at any conference matches, but all the action will be streamed live on GothicVision at www.NJCUGothicKnights.com/GothicVision.