JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team faced a tough task to open up the season as the squad faced the #9-ranked Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders. Despite a tough start early, the Gothic Knights managed to win the third set, but ultimately fell late in four sets (25-15, 25-15, 23-25, 25-20).
Jersey City (0-1) opened up to an early 5-3 lead over Rutgers-Newark (2-0) after sophomore middle blocker Mike McGehee (Avondale, Ariz./Agua Fria) forced an attack error from the Scarlet Raiders, right after scoring the team's first service ace on the season. Rutgers though, who started off slow after two lead changes early in the set, put together a 12-5 run in the middle portion to take a 15-10 lead. Freshman opposite Jinsoo Han (Chungju, South Korea/Taejon Christian International School), who shined early for NJCU in his debut, attempted to break the Scarlet Raiders momentum with a few kills in the late portion of the set, but it would not be enough to create a run for NJCU as Rutgers-Newark outscored NJCU 10-5 to take set one 25-15.
The second set told a similar tale to the first as NJCU again led early 2-1. The Scarlet Raiders answered back with a 5-1 run to lead 6-3, but senior middle blocker Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) did not let them get away easily as he generated his first of six loud kills in the match to make the score 6-4. DaSilva also aided as the set went on to keep the deficit at two after back to back service aces to make the score 10-8, but unfortunately for NJCU the second set just didn't seem to build much steam just like the first set towards a run greater than three consecutive points as the Scarlet Raiders outscored NJCU 15-7 to close out the set, taking the second 25-15 after a multitude of service errors.
The third set though became the turning point in the match as NJCU began to build momentum. The lead changed hands six times early in the set as Rutgers-Newark led NJCU 7-6 early. The one point deficit for NJCU lasted for the majority of the set as the furthest NJCU trailed in the third was three points. With the score at 20-18 and the Scarlet Raiders leading, DaSilva again came to life with a momentum changing kill that rattled Rutgers-Newark, starting a 3-0 run that put NJCU back on top 21-20. While Newark took a 22-21 lead back, NJCU closed out the set forcing a variety of errors from the Scarlet Raiders taking the set 25-23.
The momentum for NJCU carried into the fourth set as similar to the third set, the lead again changed hands six times with Rutgers-Newark leading 7-6. Unfortunately for NJCU the momentum died down briefly as the Scarlet Raiders went on a game changing 6-0 run to lead 13-6. NJCU tried its hardest to cut the deficit back down, but simply could not close the score to closer than five points as despite outscoring Rutgers Newark 14-12 in the late portions of the set, the 6-0 run proved to be too critical for NJCU to come back late in the set as they fell 25-20 sealing the match for Rutgers-Newark.
Highlights:
- Han led all players with seven kills and three service aces as well as 10.5 points in his Gothic Knights debut.
- DaSilva's loud nine point night came with six kills, two service aces, and two block assists.
- Senior setter Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) lead the squad with 11 assists in the match.
- Senior libero Daniel Esteva (Union, N.J./Union) tallied a quarter of the teams digs with seven total of the 28.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return back home, Thursday, Jan. 26, at the John J. Moore Athletic and Fitness Center (JMAC) to take on Bard College at 8:00 p.m. on the Coach Charlie Brown Court. NJCU looks to continue its success over Bard as the squad owns a 9-2 record all time against the Raptors, including a current seven match winning streak.
