WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team competed in a non-conference tri-match on the campus of Wilkes University on Saturday, Oct. 1. The Gothic Knights split a pair of matches, sweeping the hosting Colonels (25-23, 25-21, 25-20) before falling in four sets to Neumann University (25-11, 17-25, 25-15, 25-23).
Match #1 —
NJCU 3, Wilkes 0
Sophomore outside hitter
Brenda Gonzalez (Union City, N.J./Dickinson) continued her strong play of late for NJCU (10-6), leading all players with a match-best 14 kills and just one single error on 28 swings (.464 hitting percentage). Senior right-side hitter
Paola Toledo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Catolico San Rafael) was right behind her with 12 kills and four errors on 27 swings (.296), adding a team-high-tying eight digs and a match-best four total blocks.
Junior setter
Sydney Lore (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) led all players in assists (37) as well, chipping in six digs and three aces. Her classmate, middle blocker
Ashley Jimenez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) led all players with four aces to go with a pair of blocks, two kills and three digs. Sophomore outside hitter
Rachael Pharo (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) had a strong match against Wilkes (3-13), as well, with seven kills and a team-high-tying eight digs. Senior middle blocker
Leah Seickendick (Hoboken, N.J./Hudson Catholic) contributed a pair of blocks and five kills with just one error on nine swings (.444).
Match #2 — Neumann 3, NJCU 1
This one saw another good performance from Toledo, who led the Gothic Knights with a team-best 11 kills and a team-high-tying 12 digs to go with two aces — her second double-double of the season and third of her career. Gonzalez was right behind her with eight kills, while Seickendick had six kills and a block.
Senior libero
Katrina Nguyendon (Union, N.J./Union) notched a team-high-tying 12 digs and led Jersey City with four service aces. Lore dished out a team-best 27 helpers to go with seven digs, while senior defensive specialist
Krista Bartko (Edison, N.J./Edison) had six digs and a pair of aces. Pharo finished with four kills, four digs and two aces.
Up Next:
Flying high as winners of four of their last six matches, the Gothic Knights return to action on Tuesday night, Oct. 4, for a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) meeting in Montclair, N.J. NJCU and Montclair State University are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. first-serve as the Green and Gold look to string together two straight NJAC victories following this past week's five-set thrilling win over Rutgers-Camden.
