ERIE, Pa. — After starting out slow on Saturday, April 22, in the 2023 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Volleyball Championship match, dropping the first two sets, the second-seeded New Jersey City University men's volleyball team — behind a career-best and match-high 21 kills from Tournament MVP, senior co-captain middle blocker
Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) — clawed all the way back to claim the first ECAC Championship in program history. The Gothic Knights defeated top-seed and weekend host Penn State Behred in five hard-fought sets (16-25, 21-25, 29-27, 25-19, 15-9).
The first set started off evenly between the Gothic Knights (19-10) and Lions (19-9), with NJCU trailing by just two at 8-6. However, Penn State then went on a 9-3 run to take a 17-9 lead en route to the 25-16 set win. Set number two was even as well, however Jersey City had built up a two-point, 20-18 lead and looked well on its way to tying up the match. The Lions, though, proceeded to win seven of the next eight points to push NJCU to the brink and win the set, 25-21.
Set three was a thriller as NJCU was fighting to keep the match going. The Green and Gold trailed by three early at 7-4 in favor of the Lions, who maintained a multi-point lead until it was 13-11. Then, a kill from freshman middle blocker
Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J./Harrison), combined with a block from him and fellow rookie
Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) and an ace from senior co-captain opposite
James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne), put Jersey City up, 14-13. The lead was then traded back and forth, or the score was tied, nearly 20 times from that point on until Penn State was on the brink of a win several times, including as late as 27-26. Bajor and junior outside hitter
Mahmoud Serour (Kearny, N.J./Kearny), combined with a Lions attack error, won the final three points of the set to win it 29-27 and force a fourth. DaSilva had five kills in the third, while senior
Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) saw time at outside and had five kills, as well.
The fourth saw NJCU up early, 6-5 and the the Gothic knights flew out to a 7-2 run to take a controlling, 13-7 lead — DaSilva had two kills over that stretch, while Bajor and Ferrari each had one. The Lions cut it back to a two-point, 13-11 game before Jersey City enjoyed another 8-3 run to jump out to a 21-14 lead — Perales notched three kills over that stretch — en route to the 25-19 win to force a fifth in final set. DaSilva was dominant with eight kills, while Perales was a perfect 5-of-5 on his swings.
There was no question about it early on in the fifth as NJCU jumped out to a 7-2 lead behind two kills and a block assist from DaSilva. After Penn State cut it back to two at 7-5, Jersey City won six straight points to make it 13-5 and were just two points away from the title — Serour was outstanding over that stretch, notching four kills, including three in a row. Finally, Perales had a kill to make it 14-7 before Serour ended the day with a championship-winning kill to win the set, 15-9, and the five-set thrilling match.
Highlights:
- Senior libero
Daniel Esteva (Union, N.J./Union) finished the day with a match-best 14 digs, while Serour had 10 digs and nine kills.
- Ferrari dished out 12 assists in the first two sets before moving over to the outside and notching six kills.He also had eight digs and four total blocks.
- DaSilva added a match-best six total blocks to his day, while Perales had four. The rookie also finished with 11 kills and one error on 20 swings (.500). DaSilva was 21-for-33 with three errors (.545).
- Bajor notched seven kills, four digs and two blocks. Fellow Bayonne native, Casais dished out 36 assists to go with five digs.
