JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's volleyball team turned in one of its most complete performances of the season Friday night, February 20, sweeping Brooklyn College in straight sets (25-8, 25-13, 25-15) at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
Despite being without eight student-athletes, the Gothic Knights (10-4, 3-0 CUNYAC) showed no signs of slowing down, overpowering the Bulldogs (4-4, 1-3 CUNYAC) with a blistering .433 hitting percentage while holding Brooklyn to .000, controlling every statistical category along the way — points (53-21), kills (36-15), aces (10-3), blocks (7-3), assists (30-15), and digs (27-19).
NJCU wasted no time asserting control in the opening set, storming out to a 10-2 lead behind aggressive serving and crisp offensive execution. Senior Victor De Souza (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) sparked the run with three kills and a service ace, immediately putting Brooklyn on its heels. Though the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 13-6, the Gothic Knights responded with a 4-0 surge to stretch the lead to double digits. Back-to-back kills from senior Mike McGehee (Avondale, Ariz./Agua Fria) highlighted the burst. NJCU closed the set with four consecutive points — capitalizing on three Brooklyn errors and finishing with another De Souza kill — to secure a commanding 25-8 victory. De Souza totaled four kills in the set alone.
Set two followed a similar script. NJCU opened on a 6-0 run, with kills from Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne), De Souza, Solomon Brown (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood), and March Pardasie. After Brooklyn finally got on the board, the Green and Gold answered with another 5-0 spurt to build an 11-1 advantage, three of those points coming from Pardasie. The Bulldogs briefly capitalized on NJCU errors to cut the deficit to seven, but a service error reignited the Gothic Knights. NJCU closed strong with a 5-0 run to claim a 20-8 lead before sophomore Erick Bacuilima (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) sealed the 25-13 set win with an ace. Pardasie led the set with four kills.
Brooklyn scored first in the final frame, but NJCU quickly regained control. Holding a narrow 11-9 edge, a kill from junior Mikey Harte (New York, N.Y./St. John's Preparatory) ignited an 8-0 run that broke the set open at 19-9. The Gothic Knights maintained at least a two-point cushion throughout and closed out the match with a decisive 25-15 win to complete the sweep.
McGehee delivered eight kills on a remarkable .778 hitting percentage, adding three digs and a season-high three block assists. De Souza matched him with eight kills on .467 hitting while posting career-highs in points (15) and service aces (five), along with three total blocks. Brown added eight kills with two digs and two blocks. Casais orchestrated the offense masterfully with 18 assists, two digs, two blocks, and a season-high ace. Defensively, sophomore Kevin Phan (Belleville, N.J./Belleville) led with seven digs, while Pardasie filled the stat sheet with six kills, six digs, two aces, one block, and an assist.
For Brooklyn, Joaquin Calderon paced the offense with four kills and an ace. Joel Hernandez recorded nine assists and five digs, while Armand Kaloshi contributed two blocks.
From Head Coach Carlo Edra:
"Something is in the air because we had eight student athletes inactive for this match. Luckily, the guys we had today pulled off the conference win. Our schedule is about to ramp up and we need to get as much momentum that we can get."
UP NEXT:
NJCU will look to carry its momentum into a marquee matchup on Thursday, Feb. 26, when the Gothic Knights host No. 6 NYU at 7:00 p.m. at the JMAC.
