Men's Volleyball Captures Skyline Championship with 3-2 Win Over NJCU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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(2) New Jersey City (22-9) | 18 | 21 | 26 | 27 | 11 | 2 |
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(1) St. Joseph's (L.I.) (25-3) | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
Patchogue, NY| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's volleyball team was crowned Skyline Conference Champions after defeating New Jersey City University in a five-set thriller in the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles (25-3) avenged their 2021 Championship defeat to the Gothic Knights (22-9) and will advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
St. Joseph's breezed through set one limiting NJCU to just a .034 hitting percentage to claim a 25-18 win. A tightly played second set saw the two sides all tied up at 19, but the Golden Eagles went on a 6-2 run to end the set with a 25-21 win. The Gothic Knights went on to control most of the third set leading by as many as five late in the game, 23-18, but SJC chipped away tying the score at 24. An NJCU kill gave the advantage to the Gothic Knights, 25-24, before an out-of-rotation call on the Golden Eagles on the final point allowed for the 26-24 win in favor of the visitors. The fourth set saw a lot of the same with the Gothic Knights leading through most of the game, but again the Golden Eagles clawed back to even the score at 24, however, again it was NJCU who came away with the 27-25 win pushing the match to a deciding fifth set. The two sides exchanged points to start the final game before three consecutive kills from SJC's Mark Jensen created some distance at 5-2. The Golden Eagles maintained momentum and kept NJCU at arms distance en route to a 15-11 victory.
Jensen finished the day with a team-best 22 kills while hitting at a .374 clip. The right side also provided 12 digs and four blocks. Paul Curaro pitched in with 17 kills and completed a double-double with 12 digs. Mark Williams rounded out the top scorers with 12 kills while recording 11 digs, five aces, and a season-best six blocks. Middles Quinn Foglia and Matt Dolan finished with seven and three kills, respectively, and combined for 13 blocks at the net.
Setter Clint Johnson tossed a match-best 52 assists and collected a team-high 13 digs while recording four blocks and three kills and was named the Skyline Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
NJCU's Jonathan Andrews led all players with 24 kills and 15 digs. James Bajor added 11 kills and also finished with 15 digs with setters Leo Ferrari and Aaron Mantilla dishing 29 and 20 assists, respectively.
As mentioned, the Golden Eagles advance to the NCAA Div. III Regional Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for Monday, April 11 at 10:00 am.
