NEW YORK, N.Y. - The New Jersey City University (NJCU) men's volleyball team pulled off a hard-fought five-set victory over Baruch College, winning 26-28, 25-19, 25-27, 25-22, 15-13 on Thursday, March 19 at the Baruch College ARC Arena in New York City.
With the win, NJCU stayed undefeated in City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) play, improving to 7-0 in conference action, while Baruch fell to 5-1. The matchup featured the conference's last two unbeaten teams battling for first place.
The Gothic Knights now hold a 5-7 record against Baruch. Their last win over the Bearcats came in 2023 in four sets, snapping a six-game losing streak to Baruch, which had lasted since NJCU's previous victory in 2007.
NJCU recorded a .331 hitting percentage, while Baruch posted a .167 percentage. The Gothic Knights outscored the Bearcats in most statistical categories, including points (81-77), kills (62-59), blocks (15-8), assists (60-57), and digs (48-42). Baruch had the advantage in aces, 10-4.
Junior Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill) returned after a week off to record a season-best 18 kills and six assists. He added four digs and one ace for a total of 20.0 points. Senior Amaru Perales (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) contributed 16 kills on a match-best .517 hitting percentage, along with three blocks, two service aces, and two assists for 19.5 points. Senior Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) posted a career-high 16 digs and 50 assists, along with four kills and three blocks, marking his third 50-plus assist performance of the season. Junior Victor De Souza (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) dominated at the net with a career-high nine blocks, six kills, one ace, and a dig for 11.5 points. Sophomore Anthony Matute (Passaic, N.J./Passaic Charter) anchored the defense with 12 digs. Junior Solomon Brown (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood) added 12.0 points with nine kills, four blocks, and a dig, while sophomore Matt Peralta (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) recorded a double-digit performance with 10.0 points, including seven kills, four blocks, four digs, and two assists.
For Baruch, Peter Gavroff led with 23 kills, seven digs, two assists, and an ace for 24.0 points. Argjend Osmanaj contributed 11 kills, nine digs, three blocks, three assists, and two service aces. Ari Osmanaj ran the offense with 49 assists, six service aces, six digs, three blocks, and three kills. Aaron Clarke posted a .462 hitting percentage with seven kills, three blocks, and a dig.
The match began with a tightly contested first set. Tied at 14, the Bearcats went on a 6-2 run to take a 20-16 lead, but NJCU responded with four straight points to tie the set at 20. Baruch closed it out 28-26 after a NJCU attack error and a service ace. Set one featured 11 ties, with Pardasie and Perales each contributing five kills.
In set two, Perales sparked a 6-0 run with back-to-back kills, giving NJCU an 8-4 lead. The Gothic Knights extended their advantage to as much as eight points at 23-15. Baruch trimmed the deficit to 24-19, but Brown secured the set 25-19 with a kill. Pardasie led with five kills, while Perales and Casais tallied three each.
Set three saw a back-and-forth battle, with Casais tying the set at eight. Baruch pulled away late to win 27-25, despite nine combined kills from De Souza, Perales, and Pardasie. The fourth set remained close, but a Bearcat attacking error gave NJCU a three-point lead at 21-18, and Peralta closed the set 25-22 with a kill. Pardasie and Peralta each had three kills in the set.
The decisive fifth set began with NJCU taking an early 7-3 lead, only for Baruch to answer with three straight points to cut the deficit to 7-6. Perales responded with a kill to secure an 8-6 lead at the side switch. NJCU extended the advantage to 12-10 following two Bearcat errors. After Brown added an insurance point to make it 13-11, Baruch cut the lead to 14-13, forcing NJCU to call a timeout. Peralta's kill made it 14-11, and Perales closed the match with a final kill, securing the 15-13 fifth-set victory and keeping NJCU undefeated in conference play.
From Head Coach Carlo Edra:
"Battle for first place in the conference going 15-13 in the fifth set in great preperation for post season. Baruch showed us why they are the defending champions."
UP NEXT:
The Gothic Knights return to action on Saturday, March 21, traveling to Hunter College to face the Hawks at 1:00 p.m. and Vassar College at 3:00 p.m.
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