JERSEY CITY, N.J. — In what was the most tightly contested match for the New Jersey City University women's volleyball program in half a decade, the Gothic Knights stormed back from two sets down to topple William Paterson University in five sets (26-28, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13) on Tuesday evening, Oct. 25, at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) in NJCU's New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) regular-season finale.

With the victory over the Pioneers (11-16, 1-7 NJAC), the Green and Gold (15-11, 3-5 NJAC) seeled their most conference victories since the 2008 campaign, when they went 5-3. Several Gothic Knights had standout performance against WPU on Tuesday, including three players finishing with double-digit kill totals, three double-digit dig outputs, one double-double and two five-ace nights.

Set 1: WPU 28, NJCU 26
The first set of the night was a sign of things to come as, trailing 11-5 at one point, the Gothic Knights chipped away slowly with a 10-5 spurt of their own and came all the way back to make it a one-point, 16-15 Pioneers' lead. Sophomore outside hitter Rachael Pharo (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) — she led all players with a career-best 17 kills — registered three kills during this stretch, while that match's co-leaders in total aces (five each), both notched an ace — juniors middle blocker Ashley Jimenez (West New York, N.J./Memorial) and setter Sydney Lore (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee). Jimenez' ace aces was a career-high. The Pioneers eventually regained a four-point, 21-17 lead, but a 7-2 NJCU run put the home squad a point away from taking the early 1-0 lead. WPU staved off that chance — and two more like it — to eventually finish off the set with three straight points for the 28-26 win.

Set 2: WPU 26, NJCU 22
Set number two was much of the same as, after falling behind 6-1 early on, NJCU eventually found itself with a handful of two-point leads the led to a three-point, 22-19 advantage late. At one point, trailing 14-10, the Gothic Knights went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-15 lead, thanks in part to two more kills from Pharo and aces from Lore and senior libero Katrina Nguyendon (Union, N.J./Union). Then, tied up at 17-17, Jersey City found its way to a 22-19 lead and looked poised to even it up. Unfortunately, William Paterson closed out the set with a 6-0 run to take the 2-0 lead.

Set 3: NJCU 25, WPU 23
The third set started out ominously poorly for the Gothic Knights, who looked well on their way to being swept after falling behind 13-3. However, the squad regrouped and flew out to a 13-3 run of its own to tie up the set at 16-16. Senior right-side hitter Paola Toledo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Catolico San Rafael) and Pharo each had three kills apiece, combined with a pair of aces from Jimenez and two solo stuffs from senior middle blocker Leah Seickendick (Hoboken, N.J./Hudson Catholic). The teams from that point on started to trade points back and forth until NJCU went up 22-20, then 23-21, then 24-22 and ultimately winning the set 25-23. Seickendick and Toledo each had a pair of kills during this sequence, combined with a block from Pharo and Jimenez.

Set 4: NJCU 25, WPU 21
Once again needing a win to stay alive, the Gothic Knights found themselves trailing 10-6 following a 6-1 run for William Paterson. Thankfully, Jersey City used an 8-3 run to take a brief 14-13 lead. Seickendick had two kills and a block during this stretch. Now locked in, the teams traded points until it was 19-18 in favor of the Pioneers. A quick 5-0 run, including kills from Pharo and Seickendick, made it 23-19 for NJCU and — after a couple points for WPU — the home team seeled it to force a decisive fifth set thanks to an exclamation point of a kill from Jimenez to make it 25-21.

Set 5: NJCU 15, WPU 13
Neither squad was able to pull away in this one as, after NJCU started off with the first three points — including two kills from Pharo and an ace from Nguyendon — the Pioneers won the next three to tie it. The teams then alternated points until it was William Paterson who lead 13-12. Finally, the Gothic Knights put the pedal to the metal and a block from Jimemez and Toledo, followed by a pair of aces from Jimenez seeled the 15-13 win and the 3-2 match comeback victory.
 
Highlights/Notes:
- Pharo added 10 digs to her night for the fourth double-double of her season and 11th of her career.
- Toledo had 13 kills to go with five digs and two blocks.
- Seickendick, as always, was efficient once more as she ended her night with 12 kills and just one error on 22 swings (.500 hitting percentage) to go with a match-high-tying three total blocks.
- Lore tied her season high and was once again one off tying her career high with a match-best 44 assists to go with her ace total (5) and eight digs.
- Senior defensive specialist Krista Bartko (Edison, N.J./Edison) led NJCU with a season- and team-best 15 digs, while Nguyendon had 13 digs to go with her three aces.
- Despite the victory, which gives the Gothic Knights their most conference wins in 14 years, the squad was unable to clinch a spot in the 2022 NJAC Tournament. NJCU and Ramapo College each finished the season at 3-5, but the Roadrunners held the head-to-head tiebreaker and snatched up the sixth and final spot in the tournament with the 3-1 win at Rutgers-Newark tonight, as well.

Up Next:
Jersey City closes out its 2022 regular season with a 7:00 p.m. road clash in Scranton, Pa,, on Thursday, Oct. 27, against Marywood University. Following that match, the Gothic Knights — who clinched a winning record with their win over John Jay College over the weekend — will await possible postseason play following the results of the 2022 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Volleyball Championship selection, which takes place on Monday afternoon, Nov. 7.