LANGHORNE, Pa. — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team traveled to Langhorne, Pa. on Thursday night, Feb. 8, to play the Cairn University Highlanders. The Gothic Knights picked up their first victory of the season, sweeping the Highlanders in three sets. 

The match began with NJCU (1-5) and Cairn (0-6) trading points. The squads found themselves in a 6-6 tie until a service error by the Highlanders followed by three-straight aces by senior outside hitter Mahmoud Serour (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) gave Jersey City a 10-6 advantage. The Highlanders attempted to battle back but NJCU controlled the remainder of the first set, taking it 25-14.

Set two went similarly to the first, with both teams swapping leads several times early in the set. Cairn had a two-point lead at 10-8, but freshman outside hitter Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill) forced an attack error, then back-to-back kills from graduate co-captain opposite hitter James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) and a kill from Pardasie gave the momentum back to the Green and Gold. Three-straight aces by Bajor got the Gothic Knight lead up to 21-13, and Serour closed out the second set victory with a kill.

Service and attack errors haunted the Highlanders in the third set, allowing NJCU to recover from an early 3-0 deficit. An all-around team effort, including a kill from junior middle blocker Nate Aguilar (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) secured the 3-0 sweep of Cairn and the team's first win of the season.

Highlights:
- NJCU had 13 services aces, including five by fifth-year co-captain middle blocker Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny).
- DaSilva also had a season-high in hit percentage (.600).

Up Next:
NJCU looks to pick up wins two and three on Saturday, Feb. 10, when they travel to New Paltz, N.Y. for the New Paltz Tri-Match. The Gothic Knights will face off against the Hawks at 11:00 a.m., followed by #2 Stevens at 1:00 p.m.