BROOKLYN — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team easily dispatched Skyline Conference foe St. Joseph's University-Brooklyn on Tuesday night, April 4, to close out conference play with a 3-0 road victory (25-13, 25-19, 25-11). It is NJCU's 10th Skyline victory of the season and the Gothic Knights are officially locked in to the #3 seed heading into Conference Tournament play, which begins with the semifinal round on April 13.
The first set started out pretty evenly, with NJCU (17-9, 10-4 Skyline) and St. Joe's (6-13, 5-8 Skyline) tied up at 8-8 before the Gothic Knights exploded for a 10-1 run to take an 18-9 advantage. Senior co-captain middle blocker
Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) did most of the damage for NJCU over that stretch, notching three kills and two aces, along with a pair of kills from rookie outside hitter
Victor De Souza (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side). The Gothic Knights then closed out the set, leading 19-11, by winning six of the final eight points for the 25-13 win — De Souza had a kill and an ace over that stretch, as well.
Set number two saw a slightly shifted lineup for Jersey City and the Bears took advantage, eventually building up a three-point, 15-12 lead. That was before an 11-2 run for NJCU completely swung momentum back to the visitors, putting them up 23-17. Most of the offense during that stretch came via St. Joe's errors, however junior opposite
Kenneth Gil (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) did have two aces and a kill to help his squad along, while freshman middle blocker
Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) chipped in a pair of kills, as well. Sophomore outside hitter
Mike McGehee (Avondale, Ariz./Agua Fria) closed out the set with two kills to take it 25-19.
The night's final set started off as all NJCU, with the Gothic Knights flying out to a 9-1 lead. Shockingly enough, three of those points came off kills from junior
Leandro Perez (Elizabeth, N.J./Kearny), who normally occupies a defensive specialist role — Perales tallied two kills and a block over that stretch, as well. Later on, up 11-4, the Gothic Knights enjoyed a brief 7-1 run to take a commanding 18-5 advantage. Perez continued to play well, notching the first block of his collegiate career over that span, while sophomore middle blocker
Nate Aguilar (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) had two kills and a block. The Green and Gold eventually closed out the set, 25-11, and won the match in three.
Highlights:
- Perales led all players with a match-best eight kills and just one error on 12 swings (.583 hitting percentage). He also had two blocks, two kills and an ace.
- Senior libero
Daniel Esteva (Union, N.J./Union) tied for the match high with eight digs.
- De Souza finished with seven kills and two errors on 13 swings (.385) to go with three digs and two aces.
- Gil ended with three kills, three aces and three digs. McGehee notched six kills and three digs.
- Senior
Leo Ferrari (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) and freshman
Erik Narvaez (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) tied for the team high with 13 assists each, while rookie
Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) dished out 11.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights close out their regular season on Friday night, April 7, at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) on Senior Night. Action against 17-time CUNYAC Champions Hunter College gets underway at 7:00 p.m.
