NEWARK, N.J. | The New Jersey City University (NJCU) men's volleyball team dropped a pair of non-conference matches in a heavyweight tri-match on Saturday afternoon. The Gothic Knights first squared off against #9 Southern Virginia University (SVU), falling 3-1 (29-27, 13-25, 19-25, 22-25). NJCU then took on familiar foe #16 Rutgers-Newark and fell, 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-19).
Match 1: #9 Southern Virginia 3, NJCU 1
NJCU (18-8) hit .116 as a team and tallied 43 kills, led by Marcus Pardasie's (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill) 17 kills. Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) paced the team with 30 assists and six blocks while Anthony Matute (Passaic, N.J./Passaic Charter) collected a team-high 13 digs.
SVU (26-4) was led by Tommy Forese's 18 kills, and as a team, SVU hit .302 with 53 kills. Mitchell Barney led the team with 12 digs while Gehrig Tolman dished out a team-high 28 assists.
The Gothic Knights stormed out of the gate in the opening set, shocking Southern Virginia with a 29-27 victory. NJCU jumped out to a 7-3 lead behind kills from Pardasie, Solomon Brown (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood), and Victor De Souza (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side). SVU fought back and eventually seized a late 20-18 advantage. NJCU refused to fold, continuing to pick up points at crucial moments before closing the set on a 3-0 run capped by a Pardasie kill.
Southern Virginia regrouped in the second set and fended off an aggressive NJCU squad early on. The Gothic Knights remained stride for stride with the Knights before a devastating 12-3 SVU run closed out the set and leveled the match at one.
NJCU led 4-2 early in the third set before SVU strung points together to seize a 14-8 lead. Pardasie delivered back-to-back kills to pull NJCU within two, 19-17. SVU responded with a 6-2 run that put them ahead 2-1 in the match.
Much like the previous sets, the Gothic Knights held an early lead in the fourth. This time, NJCU kept pace with SVU and held a 16-15 advantage behind an Erick Bacuilima (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) ace. SVU deployed a 4-1 run to grab hold of the lead and never looked back, closing out the match, 3-1.
Match 2: #16 Rutgers-Newark 3, NJCU 0
NJCU (18-9) improved its hitting to .160 against the Scarlet Raiders but was held to just 25 kills. De Souza and Brown led the Gothic Knights with four kills each, while Pardasie paced the team with five digs. Casais tallied 17 assists in the loss.
Rutgers-Newark (17-7) hit .296 with 47 kills as a team. Harry Takyi paced the Scarlet Raiders with 16 kills while Duncan Sturt orchestrated the offense with 43 assists.
The Scarlet Raiders seized an early lead behind a pair of Aleks Kolodziej aces before ripping off a 6-2 run to extend their advantage. NJCU attempted to rally late with a Matt Peralta (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) kill, but it wasn't enough as Rutgers-Newark held on for the opening set victory.
Rutgers-Newark stormed out to an 11-6 lead in the second set before NJCU mounted a furious comeback to take a 24-23 advantage. Pardasie put the Gothic Knights in pole position, but Rutgers-Newark answered with three straight points to close out the set and take a commanding 2-0 match lead.
In the third, Rutgers-Newark seized a commanding lead and held on for the sweep despite a furious late rally attempt by the Gothic Knights.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights return to action on Thursday, April 9, at 7:00 pm for the CUNYAC Semifinal match.
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