Jersey City, N.J. - In the final pair of regular season matches, the New Jersey City University men's volleyball team squared off against Purchase College and Ramapo College today, April 6, in the only home tri-match of the campaign at the John J. Moore Athletic and Fitness Center. The Gothic Knights defended home court and swept both matches on Charlie Brown Court, giving the squad their 16th and 17th Skyline Conference wins of 2024, marking the most amount of conference wins in a single-season in program history. The Gothic Knights have earned the #2 seed in the 2024 Skyline Conference Championships next week, and will receive a bye from Tuesday's first round action. The Green and Gold will host the winner of Ramapo and Manhattanville in the Skyline Conference Semi-Finals Thursday, April 11, at the JMAC.

Match 1:
Set one began as a tight contest between NJCU (20-9, 17-1 Skyline) and Purchase (16-13, 11-7 Skyline). With the Green and Gold leading 6-5, they would put up their first run of the day, scoring five straight during a 9-3 run to take a commanding lead. NJCU would then score six unanswered points to give themselves a 20-6 lead with a 1-0 match lead in sight. The Gothic Knights would go on to hold the Panthers to just 12 points en-route to a first set victory in which they only trailed twice.

Like the first, both teams traded points back and forth to begin the second. At 14-10 in favor of the Green and Gold, they would erupt for a 10-0 run to close the second.

In the third, NJCU took the first three points of the game, and did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the match, as they went on to sweep the Panthers in the first match of the day. Senior outside hitter James Bajor (Bayonne, N.J., Bayonne) finished with a match-high 13 kills against the Panthers, and also lead the match in aces (6). Seniors Brandon DaSilva (Kearny, N.J., Kearny) and Mahmoud Serour (Kearny, N.J., Kearny) each finished with a pair of blocks, and freshman Malik Dickerson (Union, N.J., Union) ended the first with a match-high in both assists (27) and digs (8).

Match 2:
NJCU began their match against Ramapo (17-10, 14-4 Skyline) with a 9-0 run in the first set. The Green and Gold kept the Roadrunners at arms-length for the remainder of the set and went on to take a 1-0 lead in the match by winning the first game 25-14. 

Ramapo began the second set much stronger. With the Roadunners leading 11-8, NJCU answered with a 6-2 to take their first lead of the set since earning the first point of the frame. Both teams traded the lead for the next few points, but with the score 16-15 in favor of Ramapo, the Green and Gold manufactured another run, this time 5-1, to put them back ahead. Ramapo scored the next three points to tie the game back up at 20-20, but the Gothic Knights were not rattled, as they took the five of the last seven points to defeat the Roadrunners in the second game.

NJCU handled Ramapo in the third, jumping out to an early advantage that they did not give up for the remainder of the match. With the score 7-3 in favor of the Gothic Knights, NJCU would go on an 8-2 run to take a commanding 15-5 lead with another sweep in sight. That is exactly what would transpire, as the Green and Gold held Ramapo to just seven more points in the set. Bajor's 11 kills against the Roadrunners led the way for the Gothic Knights. DaSilva finished just behind him with 10, and nearly missed a double-double with a match-high and career-high nine blocks against the Roadrunners. Sophomore setter Erik Narvaez (Newark, N.J., Newark East Side) led the match in assists (27), while Pardasie led the Green and Gold in digs (11).

Highlights:
- Between both games, NJCU recorded 68 kills as a team, hitting .403 as a squad against Purchase and .295 against Ramapo.
- DaSilva and Bajor played huge roles in both matches today. After six sets, the former was responsible for 33.5 Green and Gold points between both games, while the latter notched 23.0.
-With the conclusion of the regular season, the Gothic Knights boast a 20-9 record. Of their 20 victories this year, 18 of them were decided by a 3-0 scoreline. It's the ninth time in history that the program has clipped the 20-win mark, and the second time that head coach Carlo Edra has led his team to a 20-win season in his four years at the helm.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights will await the winner of Tuesday's first round results in the Skyline Conference Championships, as either Ramapo or Manhattanville will travel to the JMAC to face off against NJCU on April 6. The winner of Thursday's semi-final earn a spot in Saturday's final for an automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.