Jan. 21, 2011

Box Score

The New Jersey City University Gothic Knights men's volleyball team continued its recent dominance over Lehman College on Friday night, defeating the visiting Lightning 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15) for its 15th win in the teams' last 16 meetings.

Things started well for the Lightning as it enjoyed a first set lead until the Gothic Knights tied the score at 12-12 on a kill by Michal Kucza. After putting a ball away to give Lehman a 16-15 lead, R.J. LeBlanc gave two points back to NJCU on attack errors. The hosts were awarded a third consecutive point when Lehman was found to have served out of rotation.

Both teams continued to battle neck and neck until NJCU's Rich Boyle slammed home a kill to give the Gothic Knights the 23-21 advantage. Following a Lehman timeout, the Lightning was able to square the match at 23 on a kill and block by Miguel Gallardo on consecutive plays. However, NJCU received kills from Kucza and Nathan Joubert to close out the tightly contested first set.

The second set started much as the first had ended until the Gothic Knights, with the score tied 5-5, produced a 12-5 run to take a commanding 17-10 lead. They were able to cruise the remainder of the set, closing things out on an attack error by LeBlanc to leave them one set from victory.

Lehman was not in the mood to stop playing volleyball on the night, though, and it showed in the third set as the Bronx visitors built a 13-6 lead. The Gothic Knights ripped off seven straight points of their own to take a 16-15 lead, the last of which came on a kill by Kenny Lisk. Trailing 19-17, Lehman conjured up a five point run that was the impetus for the team eventually grabbing its first set win, 25-22, capped by Luis Colon's kill.

Unfortunately for the Lightning the fourth set spelled the end of its evening as the Gothic Knights turned another close set into a relatively easy victory, scoring 11 of the match's final 17 points, to complete the 3-1 win.

Lehman was led by the trio of Gallardo (14 kills, 17 assists), LeBlanc (nine kills, 12 digs) and Nate Martin (nine kills, 12 assists, 15 digs).

The victorious Gothic Knights were the recipients of a tremendous 20 kill effort from Kucza. Setter Jorge Rodriguez tallied 40 assists in the win.

The Lightning is back in action on January 29 when it hosts Bard College at 2:00 p.m.