ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team, returning to action for the first time since last year's historic season when the Gothic Knights claimed their first-ever Skyline Conference championship and berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament, competed in a non-conference tri-match this afternoon, Sunday, Jan. 23. NJCU first faced Russell Sage College on neutral ground, topping the Gators in straight sets, and then took down host Bard College in three, as well.
Match #1: NJCU 3, Sage 0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-11)
Jersey City (2-0) kicked off the season quickly with a statement win over the Gators (0-2). After dropping the first point of the first set of the year, NJCU took the next five points — including three straight aces for junior
Hanel Collado (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) — to take a 5-1 lead. Then, leading 6-3, JC went on a 9-1 run to take a 15-4 lead before seeling it 25-13. In set number two, tied 2-2, junior
Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) notched three straight aces to make it 6-2 before another four Gothic Knight points made it 10-3. Later on in the set, leading 18-10, NJCU scored five straight — including two kills from junior
James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) — to make it 23-10 before the squad went up 2-0 with the 25-11 win. The final game of the match saw Jersey City fly out to an 8-0 lead right away, including three aces from senior
Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny). Then, up 9-3 already, NJCU went on another run (9-1) to make it 17-4, which included three kills from freshman
Ryan Lin (Union, N.J./Union) in his debut, before his squad cruised to another 25-11 set win and the straight-set match victory.
Highlights vs. Sage:
- Senior
Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) led all players with six kills on eight swings with one error (.625) to go with a block, an ace and a dig.
- Bajor led all players with 10 points (five kills and five aces) after an efficient match swinging (5-of-6 with no errors, .833 hitting percentage).
- Ferrari dished out a match-best 26 assists, notched four aces, four kills on five swings with one error and tied the match-high with three total blocks.
- DaSilva led all players with a match- and career-high six aces to go with a pair of kills and a block.
- Rookie
Mike McGehee (Avondale, Ariz./Agua Fria) finished his first-career match with four kills on seven swings with no errors (.571) to go with four digs and a match-high-tying three total blocks.
- As a team, NJCU hit an astounding .519 (34-of-52 with seven errors) while holding the Gators to just .061 (13-of-49 with 10 errors).
- The Gothic Knights also had 20 aces to just three for Sage, among other statistical advantages.
Match #2: NJCU 3, Bard 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-15)
This one started out a bit more evenly on both sides as Bard (1-1) held a one-point lead as late as 13-12 in the first set. However, at that point NJCU then flew out to a 5-0 run to take a 17-13 lead, including three more aces from Bajor. Trading points back and forth, the Gothic Knights led 20-16 and then made a statement by taking five of the final six points for the first-set win, including two kills from DaSilva.
The second set was more of the same, with the Raptors holding another lead midway through, 14-12. Once again, however, Jersey City came right back with another run, this time 9-1, to take a 21-15 lead. Andrews recorded three kills over this sequence, while McGehee had two. Then, taking four of the final six points, NJCU clinched the set thanks to another kill from DaSilva — one of the teams tri-captains. In the third and final set, this time NJCU did not allow Bard to take the early lead and went up 7-3 initially, then 9-5. Up 10-8 near the midway point of the set, the Gothic Knights took Bard for an 8-1 run and held the 18-9 advantage — including two more kills from Andrews. The Raptors were able to get a few points back to make it 22-15, but Jersey City closed it out with a kill and an ace from Andrew, plus a Raptor attack error to clinch the victory and the 2-0 start.
Highlights vs. Bard:
- Tightening up their rotation, seven Gothic Knights saw the floor in the win. This included sophomore
Mahmoud Serour (Kearny, N.J./Kearny), who made the transition from outside hitter to the team's top libero in both of today's matches. He tied the team-high against Bard with eight digs.
- Andrew once again led all players in kills, this time with 14 on 21 swings with two errors (.571), adding seven digs and an ace.
- DaSivla finished with eight kills, an ace, a dig and a match-high-tying three total blocks.
- Both Bajor and McGehee finished with four kills and three total blocks apiece. The former also tied for the team-high in digs with eight and served up a match-best four aces.
- Ferrari dished out another match-high 26 assists to go with three aces, six digs and a match-high-tying three total blocks.
