JERSEY CITY, N.J. — It was an extremely efficient night on Coach Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team improved to 3-0 on the young season following its straight-set (25-16, 25-15, 25-11) victory over the City College of New York.
NJCU (3-0) mounted a strong hitting performance against the Beavers (0-2) and finished the night with a .357 swinging percentage overall. Individually, hitters freshman
Rachael Pharo (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) and junior
Paola Toledo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Catolico San Rafael), as well as sophomore setter
Sydney Lore (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee), we all key cogs in the victorious Gothic Knights clock. Pharo was extremely efficient, picking up 11 kills with just one error on 16 swings (.625) and added eight digs and five aces.Toledi was 10-for-18 with three errors (.389) and had a dig and a block. Lore racked up 29 assists, seven digs, six aces and two blocks.
Jersey City got off to a quick start in set one, running out to a 6-2 lead before eventually stretching it out to a nine-point lead to win the set. Set number two started out in CCNY's favor as the visiting Beavers jumped out to a 7-3 lead before coach
Jordan Robinson called a much-needed timeout. The Gothic Knights came out firing and eventually tied it up at 9-9 and later going on a 7-0 run to make it an 18-13 game — four of Lore's six aces came during this sequence. NJCU then closed out the set on another 7-0 run thanks in part to Pharo, who accounted for four of those points with three aces and a kill.
The third and final set saw the Gothic Knights jump out to a 14-6 lead over the Beavers en route to the dominant 25-11 set win. Junior
Xarial Chandler (East Orange, N.J./University) made an impact in this one, tallying four kills on five error-less swings (.800), also adding a block.
Highlights:
- Chandler finished with six kills and one error on 12 swings (.417) and had two block and two digs.
- Freshman
Brenda Gonzalez (Union City, N.J./Dickinson) was skilled with the swing to as well, hitting .714 with five kills on seven attempts.
What's Next:
After a week off, NJCU hits the road next of a Tuesday, Sept. 14, match at 7:00 p.m. in Langhorne, Pa., against Cairn University. The teams haven't met since 2019, however the Gothic Knights topped the Highlanders in straight sets.
