UNION, N.J. | The New Jersey City University (NJCU) men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-19) loss to Kean University on Tuesday in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) action. The loss for the Gothic Knights marks the third straight loss to the Cougars, moving the all-time record to 3-23.

NJCU (6-2) hit .216 as a team with a total of 38 kills. Solomon Brown (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) was the highlight for the Gothic Knights as he paced the team with a season-high 9 kills, while hitting a red-hot .571. Reigning NJAC Defensive Player of the Week, Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) added eight kills, two blocks, and two digs, while Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) dished out 32 assists. Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill) added seven kills on the night, moving him to 832 career kills. That total moves him into 10th all-time at NJCU, passing Besmir Arslani, Kean University's head coach. 

Kean (4-3) tallied 47 kills and hit .304 with just 13 team errors. Chris Mitchell paced the Cougars with 13 kills on .419 hitting, while David Flores recorded 40 assists. Defensively, Tyler Quinn collected a team-high 14 digs.

The Gothic Knights jumped out to a 9-5 lead over the Cougars in the opening set with five different NJCU players recording a kill. It wasn't until the halfway point that the Gothic Knights surrendered their lead as Kean used a 4-0 run to take a 16-15 lead. A kill by De Souza followed by an error by Kean gave NJCU the lead back, 19-18, however, Kean responded with a 6-0 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Kean carried that momentum over to the second set and took a 14-7 lead. The Gothic Knights fought back, using a late 4-0 run, to come within one point of the Cougars, 21-20. Unfortunately, much like the first set, the Cougars remained disciplined late and scored four unanswered points to go ahead 2-0 in the match.

In the third and final set, the Cougars took the lead early, 10-5, and continued to build upon that momentum throughout as they led wire-to-wire. NJCU made a push at the end, scoring two unanswered points by Brown and Pardasie, but Kean slammed the door shut to complete the sweep.

Up Next:
NJCU returns to action on Wednesday, February 4, when they host Lehman College in CUNYAC action.

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