Jersey City, N.J. - The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team competed in the second part of a back-to-back home stand tonight, Feb 28, as they faced off against Saint Elizabeth University at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center. NJCU were in search of their first victory on Charlie Brown Court following yesterday's loss to NYU in the home opener. The Gothic Knights comfortably handled the Eagles, and would go on to defeat them in three sets. Reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J., Cresskill) impressed. In just two sets played, he finished with 15 kills on 22 attempts for a .591 hitting percentage, as well as notching a service ace. The Green and Gold put forth a collective team effort to take the victory tonight, as the squad combined for 40 kills on 71 attempts for a .437 hitting percentage, en route to shutting out the Eagles.

Midway through the first set, NJCU (4-8) took a 13-9 lead over Saint Elizabeth (3-10) to start off the match. Pardasie would deliver back-to-back kills and his lone service ace of the night to begin a 12-4 outburst by the Green and Gold. Sophomore setter Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J., Bayonne) assisted both of those Pardasie points, and played a big role in engineering the run to take the first set victory, dishing out six of his match-high 14 assists during the 12-point run.

With score tied at 6-6 in the second, a double block by junior middle blocker Nate Aguilar (Kearny, N.J., Kearny) and senior outside Mahmoud Serour (Kearny, N.J., Kearny) would be the first point of a 10-3 run by the Green and Gold. NJCU would not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the set, thanks in part to Pardasie's stellar performance, as 10 of his 15 kills came in the second set. Freshman setter Faraz Bhatti (Union, N.J., Union) replaced Casais as NJCU's primary facilitator in game two, and would go on to notch 11 of his 13 assists in the second set. The Bhatti-Pardasie combination landed the final two points of the set, the former being responsible for the Gothic Knight's final four points of the set with three assists and a block, and the latter recording three kills in the 4-1 run to close the second.

The Eagles did not back down coming into set three, and jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the third. The Green and Gold would respond immediately with another large run, this time 12-4 to take the final lead change of the match. Senior libero Leandro Perez (Elizabeth, N.J., Kearny) delivered a kill and a service on that run to put NJCU back in front to take a 14-10 advantage. Saint Elizabeth were able to score their highest point total of the evening in the third set, but ultimately wasn't enough to cause NJCU any trouble down the stretch. With the Eagles only trailing 16-14, NJCU closed the match by holding their opponents to just three more points, all of which were service errors. Perez recorded another kill down the stretch for his fifth of the match, as well as sophomore middle blocker Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J., Harrison) and senior opposite Kenneth Gil (North Bergen, N.J., North Bergen) each notching a kill, their fifth and second of the match, respectively.

Highlights:
- Pardasie finished with double-digit kills for the seventh time in 2024. It's fourth time this season that the freshman outside has reached 15+ kills.
- NJCU's combined hitting percentage of .437 is the second highest mark of the year. Additionally, the Green and Gold's 7.0 total blocks is tied for their third highest in a match so far.
- Nine Gothic Knight's ended the night with at least one kill in the box score, four of which recorded at least five.

Up Next:
NJCU will hit the road for another tri-match this weekend on Saturday, March 2nd, as they travel to Bronxville for a meeting between two Skyline Conference opponents. First, the Gothic Knights will square off with the University of Mount Saint Vincent at 12 p.m., before facing hosts Sarah Lawrence at 2 p.m.