JERSEY CITY, N.J. — After dropping in the first two sets on the night, the New Jersey City University men's volleyball team started the comeback attempt against Arcadia University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Thursday , March 17. The Gothic Knights evened up the match at two sets apiece behind a stellar night from junior tri-captain opposite
James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) — he finished with a career- and match-best 21 kills — but unfortunately the visiting Knights won the fifth and final set and took the match, 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 23-25, 15-6).
NJCU (13-8) got off to a slow start following the tough five-set loss on Monday, March 14, to Skyline Conference rival St. Joseph's College-Long Island. The Gothic Knights were up 2-0 in that one, but fell 3-2. Tonight against the Knights (8-13), the Gothic Knights found themselves down 2-0 to start the third set, but Jersey City turned it on.
The Green and Gold jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the third before Arcadia was able to come back and make it a one-point, 9-8 game. However, NJCU flew out to an 11-2 run to take a commanding 20-11 lead in the set after notching a trio of blocks and a few errors, among other points, to take control. Leading 20-15, kills from junior tri-captain middle blocker
Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) and seniors outside hitter
Jonathan Andrews (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) and
Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) — NJCU's primary setter-turned outside hitter for the latter part of the night — helped the squad trim the deficit to 2-1 overall with the 25-18 set win.
Set number four was much closer, with neither squad leading by more than two points at any time. Bajor was a machine in this one as the junior notched seven kills on nine swings with just one error (.667 hitting percentage) in this set alone. Senior
Aaron Mantilla (Kearny, N.J./Kearny), who entered in the previous game to assume the primary setter role for NJCU, dished out 10 assists without an error on the 11 total team kills in the fourth. The tide started to turn as Jersey City trailed 18-17 before an Arcadia service error, an ace from Mantilla and a pair of kills from Bajor put NJCU up 21-19. Later on, tied at 23-23, a couple of visiting team errors sealed the set win for the Gothic Knights at 25-23.
Arcadia took the first three points on the fifth and final set quickly, but a couple of visiting errors and a Bajor kill evened it up at 3-3 and we looked to have another tight one on our hands. However, Arcadia closed the night on a 12-3 run to seal the five-set win.
Highlights:
- Bajor finished with 21 kills on 33 swings with just four errors (.515) to go with a team-high five total blocks and three digs.
- Ferrari and Mantilla each dished out 21 assists. Ferrari also notched four kills, a match-high-tying seven digs and two blocks.
- DaSilva and Andrews combined for 13 kills.
- Rookie middle blocker
Nate Aguilar (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) had four kills on seven error-less swings (.571) to go with three blocks. DaSilva also had three blocks.
Up Next:
This was the final non-conference action of the regular-season for NJCU, as the Gothic Knights now close out the year with six straight Skyline matches to prepare for the conference tournament. Up first, Jersey City travels to the Bronx for a clash with the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Tuesday evening, March 22, at 7:00 p.m. It is the first meeting between the two programs since February 29, 2020, as the Dolphins did not compete last season.
