JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's volleyball team picked up its third victory of the season tonight, Tuesday, Sept. 17, with a strong three-set sweep on Coach Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC). The Gothic Knights took down non-conference foe Maritime College (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) and improve to 7-0 all-time against the Privateers dating back to 2003, having never lost a set in the series. The individual highlight of the night came from sophomore middle blocker
Brianna Melanson (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick), who followed up her career-best performance over the weekend with another stellar night tonight in the victory.
Set number one saw NJCU (3-5) notch just one attacking error over 19 swings as a team (.316), including three kills from junior outside hitter
Marina Millett (Matawan, N.J./Saint John Vianney) and two for both senior outside hitter captain
Brenda Gonzalez (Union City, N.J./Dickinson) and freshman middle blocker
Jaelyn Martinez (Lakewood, Fla./Lake Gibson). The squad held Maritime (1-7) to a -.130 hitting percentage, forcing the road team into nine attack errors. The Gothic Knights also had three team blocks to the Privateers' zero. Early on in the first, leading just 9-8, NJCU cruised out to a 9-2 run to go up 18-10 before winning, 25-17 — Gonzalez had both her kills over that stretch.
The second set saw Maritime get up early and take a 6-5 lead over the Green and Gold. NJCU answered, thanks in part to three kills from Melanson, and retook the lead at 10-7. The Privateers held on, though, and eventually regained a 12-10 advantage. The Gothic Knights responded once again, though, with a 10-2 run to take the 20-14 lead — Melanson and junior right-side hitter
Kiki Lugo (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) each had two kills and a block over that stretch — before going up 2-0 in the match with the 25-19 set win. NJCU once again hit well (.314) in this set, including seven kills from Melanson and three for Lugo.
The night's final set saw the Green and Gold get out to an early 6-2 lead, but the Privateers clawed back to eventually take a slim 11-10 lead. Both squads then traded points until it was 18-17 in favor of NJCU. The Gothic Knights then took three straight points — a kill from Millett, a block from Gonzalez and Melanson and an ace from Millett — to go up 21-17. Maritime hung around, however, and trailed by just one at 22-21. Gonzalez answered with a kill to make it 23-21, followed by an attack error. A NJCU service error made it 24-22, but Gonzalez closed out the victory with the dominant kill to make it a three-set sweep. Melanson and Gonzalez each had four kills in this set, while Millett had two kills and two aces and sophomore defensive specialist
Jenilsa Pichardo (Union City, N.J./Union City) had a pair of aces, as well.
Highlights:
- Melanson led all players with an efficient 11 kills and just one error on 19 swings (.526), adding three blocks and a dig. She has now notched double-digit kills in two straight.
- Gonzalez had eight kills, seven digs and a block, while Millett had six kills, three aces and two digs.
- Lugo led NJCU with nine digs to go with two blocks, once ace and four kills. Martinez was error-less on her five swings, notching three kills (.600) to go with three blocks and a dig.
- Sophomore setter
Genesis Hibbard (Groesbeck, Texas/Morristown (N.J.)) led all players with 15 assists, followed closely by rookie setter
Keyanni Overstreet (Port Aurther, Texas/Sabine Pass), who had 12. The former also had five digs and two aces, while the latter had three digs and one block.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action on Thursday night, Sept. 19, for a 7:00 p.m. road match at Bryn Athyn College.
