Rido Reyes

Box Score

Cairn Cairn 3-2,0-0 United East

New Jersey City NJCU 4-0,0-0 NJAC

Cairn Cairn

3-2,0-0 United East

Final

Sep. 06, 2025

New Jersey City NJCU

4-0,0-0 NJAC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
Cairn Cairn	25	22	25	18	9	(2)
New Jersey City NJCU	14	25	19	25	15	(3)

Next Match:

Wilkes University

9/11/2025 | 7:00 PM

Next Match

Full Schedule

Sep. 11 (Thu) / 7:00 PM

Wilkes University

History

Roster

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | September 06, 2025 | Contact: Tom Krychkowski; Assistant Athletic Director for Communications & Marketing

NJCU Volleyball Stays Perfect After Five-Set Battle with Cairn

Next Match:

Wilkes University

9/11/2025 | 7:00 PM

Next Match

Full Schedule

Sep. 11 (Thu) / 7:00 PM

Wilkes University

History

Roster

Team Statistics

Team Statistics
Game Stats	Cairn	NJCU
Kills	40	48
Errors	21	33
Attempts	142	159
Hitting %	.134	.094
Points	53.0	63.0
Assists	37	45
Aces	7	11
Blocks	6	4

Kills

Cairn

NJCU

Errors

Cairn

NJCU

Attempts

Cairn

142

NJCU

159

Hitting %

Cairn

.134

NJCU

.094

Points

Cairn

53.0

NJCU

63.0

Assists

Cairn

NJCU

Aces

Cairn

NJCU

Blocks

Cairn

NJCU

Game Leaders

<a href='/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/kai-fitzpatrick/6349' class='boxscore_player_link'>Fitzpatrick, Kai</a>

#1 Fitzpatrick, Kai

Kills

24
Aces

2
Blocks

0

<a href='/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/diane-pugay/6345' class='boxscore_player_link'>Pugay, Diane</a>

#14 Pugay, Diane

Kills

10
Aces

1
Blocks

3

<a href='/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/kiley-jurcisin/6273' class='boxscore_player_link'>Jurcisin, Kiley</a>

#8 Jurcisin, Kiley

Kills

6
Aces

4
Blocks

0

<a href='/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/brianna-melanson/6277' class='boxscore_player_link'>Melanson, Brianna</a>

#18 Melanson, Brianna

Kills

3
Aces

0
Blocks

3

<a href='/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/rae-marrero/6348' class='boxscore_player_link'>Marrero, Rae</a>

#11 Marrero, Rae

Assists

40
E

2

#1 Fitzpatrick, Kai

Assists

2
E

0

#8 Jurcisin, Kiley

Assists

1
E

0

<a href='/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/elisabeth-brito/6269' class='boxscore_player_link'>Brito, Elisabeth</a>

#2 Brito, Elisabeth

Assists

1
E

2

#11 Marrero, Rae

Digs

18
RE

0

#1 Fitzpatrick, Kai

Digs

14
RE

5

#2 Brito, Elisabeth

Digs

13
RE

2

#14 Pugay, Diane

Digs

8
RE

0

Kills

Aces

Blocks

#18

Assists

#11

Digs

#11

JERSEY CITY, NJ | The New Jersey City University (NJCU) women's volleyball team stayed perfect on the year with a thrilling five-set comeback victory over Cairn University, 3-2 (14-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9), on Saturday afternoon at the John J. Moore Athletics & Fitness Center.

NJCU (4-0) hit .094 as a team and tallied a match-high 48 kills. Kai Fitzpatrick (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough High School) led the charge with a season-high 24 kills while Diane Pugay (Jersey City, N.J./Infinity Institute) and Kiley Jurcisin (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) added 10 and six, respectively. Rae Marrero (Medford, NJ/Patchogue Medford) recorded 40 assists in the win as well as a match and season-high 18 digs. Brianna Melanson (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) and Pugay each led the team with three block assists each. Cairn (3-2) was led by Bridget Dahn and Marah Lehman, who tallied 14 kills each.

The Highlanders stormed out of the gate, capitalizing on a string of NJCU attack errors to build an early 11-5 advantage. Cairn's Lehman and Dahn led the charge, combining for six kills during the frame. A 7-0 run midway through the set, fueled by two NJCU miscues and a pair of Cairn kills, put the Gothic Knights in a 17-7 hole they could not recover from. The Gothic Knights struggled to find their footing in the opening set and hit .077 for the set.

The second set featured 10 ties and saw NJCU flip the momentum. Marrero sparked the Gothic Knights with a service ace to open the frame, and later connected with Kai Fitzpatrick (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough High School) for a pair of kills that put NJCU up 8-5. Cairn clawed back behind Lehman, tying the set at 15-15. With the score even at 18, NJCU put together a decisive 4-0 burst highlighted by back-to-back aces from Kiley Jurcisin (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) and a kill from Diane Pugay (Jersey City, N.J./Infinity Institute). Cairn tried to swing momentum back in its favor, trailing by one, but an error followed by a timely kill from Marrero leveled the match at one.

NJCU rolled momentum over to the third set and briefly took a 7-4 lead. Cairn responded with a 7-1 run that catapulted them into the lead. Three errors benefited the Gothic Knights and brought them within three, 17-14, however, the Highlanders regained their form and used a 5-2 run to create enough separation between the teams to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, the Gothic Knights took a 6-2 lead, however, that lead wouldn't last as Cairn strung together five straight points to take a 7-6 lead. Down one point, Fitzpatrick sparked a 7-0 run in which she tallied three kills. NJCU expanded its lead to 19-11 before Cairn used five straight points to cut the lead down to three. The Gothic Knights were able to fend off the late surge by the Highlanders and force a fifth set.

The Gothic Knights looked like they were going to run away with the fifth set after starting on a 5-1 run. That would not be the case, however, as Cairn went on a 4-0 run after switching sides. With just a one point lead, the Gothic Knights picked up a big momentum kill by Fitzpatrick that would set the tone for the remainder of the set. NJCU closed out the match on a 7-2 run to keep its record unblemished.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights put their perfect record to the test against Wilkes University on Thursday, September 11 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center at 7:00 pm.

For the latest news, updates, and information on NJCU Athletics, visit NJCUgothicknights.com and follow the Gothic Knights on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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