PURCHASE, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team competed in a Skyline Conference road tri-match on Saturday, March 9, on the campus of Manhattanville College. The Gothic Knights squared off with St. Joseph's University-Brooklyn and the hosting-Valiants on the day, sweeping both of them to remain unbeaten in Skyline play as winners of seven in a row.
NJCU 3, St. Joe's-Brooklyn 0
NJCU (10-8, 7-0 Skyline) started off by taking on the Bears (2-10, 1-5 Skyline) for the second time in five days and once again defeated them in three sets (25-8, 25-15, 25-13). set one started off well, with the Gothic Knights winning seven of the first eight points. Then, leading 7-3, NJCU closed out game one on an 18-5 run to take it by 17 points. Freshman outside hitter
Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill) had six kills without any errors on seven swings (.857 hitting percentage) in this set, adding an ace and a dig. Sophomore middle blocker
Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) notched four kills on seven swings without an error (.571) to go with three digs, two blocks and an ace.
Set number two started off a bit closer as the Bears stayed within one at 6-5. Then, NJCU went on a 6-0 run to go up 12-5. St. Joe's cut it back to a four-point game at 14-10, but the Gothic Knights once again went on a run, 7-1, to go up by 10 once again at 21-11. The teams then traded the remaining points before the Green and Gold took the 2-0 lead with the 25-15 set victory. Pardasie had four more error-less kills on nine swings (.444) to go with three digs and an ace. Senior opposite
Kenneth Gil (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) had four kills and three digs, as well. The final game saw NJCU once again get out to a 12-5 advantage before stretching out to a 10-point, 20-10 lead. The Gothic Knights closed out the match by winning five of the final six points, taking the third set, 25-13 and the match in three games. Gill had five kills in the final set, while sophomore outside hitter
Victor De Souza (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) notched three kills and an ace.
Highlights:
- Pardasie finished with a match-best 13 kills and no errors on 20 swings (.650), adding nine digs and two aces.
- Perales had eight kills and no errors on 11 swings (.727) to go with two blocks, four digs and three aces.
- Gil and De Souza each had 9.5 points, with the former notching nine kills, a block and seven digs, while the latter had six kills, three blocks, seven digs and two aces.
- Rookie setter
Faraz Bhatti (Union, N.J./Union) got the start and dished out 35 assists, the most in his freshman campaign.
NJCU 3, Manhattanville 0
This one saw the Gothic Knights slot in most of their regular starters once again and things started out well against Manhattanville (7-10, 3-4 Skyline) as they went out to an 8-3 lead early in the first. The squads traded points for a big until NJCU led by just four at 11-7 — then the visitors went on a 5-0 run to go up 16-7. Leading 16-10, the Green and Gold then went on a 7-1 run to go up 13-11 before winning the set, 25-13. Fifth-year co-captain middle blocker
Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) had three kills, one ace and a solo block in the first game, while fellow co-captain graduate student opposite
James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) had four kills.
Set two was back and forth throughout as the Valiants managed to tie it up at 7-7 early on. NJCU answered with a 6-1 run to go up 13-8, but Manhattanville did not going away, hanging around until a 9-3 run by the home team put the Gothic Knights behind, 21-19. A kill from DaSilva and an ace from sophomore setter
Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne), paired with four Manhattanville errors, put NJCU back up for the 25-22 set victory. DaSilva had five more kills to go with an ace and another solo block in this set.
The third and final game was all Green and Gold start, with the visitors taking an early 10-2 lead, including three kills from Bajor. The Valiants cut it back to 12-7, but an 8-2 NJCU run made it a 20-9 game before the Gothic Knights came away with the 25-12 set win and 3-0 match victory. Bajor ended with six kills and an ace in the third, while Pardasie had four kills, two aces and a block.
Highlights:
- Bajor finished with a match- and season-best 13 kills on 29 swings with four errors (.310) to go with three digs, an ace and a block.
- DaSilva notched nine kills and one error on 15 swings (.533) to go with a match-high four blocks, two digs and two aces.
- Pardasie had seven kills, four aces and a season/match-best 12 digs to go with one block.
- Casais dished out 31 assists to go with two kills, two aces, three digs and a block.
- Rookie libero
Malik Dickerson (Union, N.J./Union) had eight digs.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action on Monday night, March 11, back at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) as The College at Old Westbury comes to Jersey City for a Skyline match, which is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Coach Charlie Brown Court.
