JERSEY CITY, N.J. – After a loss to New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival to Rowan University Tuesday night, Oct. 18, the New Jersey City University women's volleyball team took on Baruch College at home at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Thursday night, Oct. 20, for Senior Night. The Gothic Knights won the match in four competitive sets (25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22) against the Bearcats.

Before the game, the NJCU (13-11) women's volleyball program would recognize its three graduating seniors, Leah Seickendick (Hoboken, N.J./Hudson Catholic), Krista Bartko (Edison, N.J./Edison) and Paola Toledo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Catolico San Rafael), at center court. Seickendick and Bartko would both be honored for their five seasons of spectacular effort with the Gothic Knights, along with Toledo who has spent two years with the program. Toledo, a two-time NJAC player of the Week, would play a massive role in NJCU's victory.
 
NJCU dominated early on in set one, going up 7-3 to open up the match. In what was a five-point run, the Gothic Knights capitalized on three attack errors from Baruch (14-10). The Bearcats answered back with a four-point run of their own to tie the game up at 7-7. NJCU split points back and forth and only trailed by as many as three points in the set, trailing 19-16 late. However,the Gothic Knights went on a six-point run created by four more Bearcat attack errors to take a 24-20 lead. Junior middle blocker Ashley Jimenez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) ultimately sealed the set for the Gothic Knights, getting a loud kill to win it, 25-21.
 
Set two saw the Gothic Knights start off with a four-point run to lead 4-1 early on. Junior setter Sydney Lore (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) earned her second service ace of the match to help put the momentum in NJCU's favor. Jersey City continued to score at ease in the set, going up by as many as eight to take a 16-8 lead. Toledo also began her big run of kills in the closing portion of set two, earning three of her eventual match-best 14 . NJCU ended up winning this one 25-22 after a late charge by the Bearcats due to four Gothic Knight attack errors.
 
Set three saw the toughest set of the night for NJCU as the home team opened up the set with an 8-4 lead. Unfortunately for the Gothic Knights, Baruch went on a pair of five- and four-point runs to tie the set 10-10 and eventually take a 22-20 lead. Jersey City tied the game back up at 22-22 after a kill for sophomore outside hitter Brenda Gonzalez (Union City, N.J./Dickinson) and a Bearcat attack error. NJCU could not build any further momentum, though, as Baruch ended the set on a three-point run to win it, 25-22.
 
Set four saw Baruch carry its momentum into the set early, taking a 9-6 lead over NJCU. The Gothic Knights continued to trail throughout, tying it up and even taking a brief  15-13 lead in the set. The Bearcats, though, went on a four-point run to take a 17-15 lead and eventually add on two more points to make it 19-16 to match NJCU's biggest deficit of the set.
 
The difference maker in the set  was a huge four-point run in the late portion of the set for NJCU as the Green and Gold cut down the deficit and took a 23-21 lead. Baruch only scored one more point as the Gothic Knights ended the set out on a two-point run to win 25–22. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Pharo earned four of her six fourth-set kills during NJCU's 6-1 run to close out the match  and seal a Gothic Knights' 3-1 victory over the Bearcats.
 
At the match's end, three Gothic Knights earned double-digit kills, Toledo (14), Pharo (12) and Gonzalez (10). Additionally, Seickendick tallied three blocks and senior libero Krista Bartko (Edison, N.J./Edison) earned a season high in digs (11), besting her previous season high (10) against Rowan the match prior.
 
Up Next:
Jersey City will return home this Saturday, Octo. 20, at the JMAC to take on John Jay College in the Gothic Knights' second-to-last home game of the regular season. The match will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Coach Charlie Brown Court.