JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team picked up a pair of shutout, 3-0 victories on Saturday, March 25, at home at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC). The Gothic Knights defeated two Skyline Conference opponents in Sarah Lawrence College (25-20, 25-7, 25-16), as well as the College of Mount Saint Vincent (25-16, 25-20, 25-13), taking the season series against both teams.
Match 1: NJCU 3, Sarah Lawrence 0
A pair of underclassmen big men led the Gothic Knights (15-8, 8-3 Skyline) as middles sophomore
Mike McGehee (Avondale, Ariz./Agua Fria) and freshman
Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) had eight and 12 kills, respectively, with each hitting over .500. Additionally, freshman outside
Victor De Souza (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) had seven kills, a match-best six digs and three aces. Another pair of rookies, setters
Erik Narvaez (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) and
Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne), each dished out match-highs of 15 assists.
After a close first set, where NJCU won just 25-20, the Gothic Knights took charge over the final two, limiting the Gryphons (0-14, 0-10 Skyline) to negative hitting percentages in each set, while hitting at least .300 in all three themselves, including .435 with just three errors in the third and final set.
Match 2: NJCU 3, CMSV 0
The third and final match of the day featured NJCU against the Dolphins (9-12, 6-4 Skyline) and the Gothic Knight regulars made an impact in this one. Senior co-captain opposite
James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) led all players with 13 efficient kills with just two errors on 24 swings (.458) — he also had seven digs, three blocks and two aces. Perales and McGehee each tallied five kills apace, as well, while senior co-captain middle
Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) had a block and seven kills.
Senior
Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) added an ace to his two from the previous match against SLC and now has 173 for his career — he is currently chasing the program record of 200 all-time. He added nine digs and four kills, while Casais led all players in assists (career-high 31) and digs (11). The Green and Gold's defensive play got stronger as sets went on, holding CMSV to .167 hitting in the first, .081 in the second and -.037 in the third and final one. Offensively, they had just one error and hit .458 in that third set.
Up Next:
Jersey City stays home at the JMAC for two Skyline matches this week, both at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, March 28 and 30, as Purchase College and top-ranked St. Joseph's University-Long Island come to the West Side, respectively.
