New Jersey City University

BOX SCORE

MAHWAH, NJ…New Jersey City University received 10 kills from senior outside hitter KEVIN RODGERS (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) but dropped a 3-0 decision to #10 ranked Ramapo College, 30-23, 30-20, 30-23 on April 8 at the Bill Bradley Center.

 

The match served as a tune-up for both NJCU (20-15), which will be the No. 3 seed in the 2009 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Tournament on April 11, and Ramapo (25-7), which is seeded fourth in the 2009 Molten Division III Invitational from April 17-18, in Mahwah.

 

The non-conference match was NJCU’s first since falling to eventual North East Collegiate Volleyball Association champions Stevens Institute of Technology on March 23. Ramapo, which also defeated NJCU on March 11 (30-24, 30-13, 30-23), has won the last nine matches between the two North Jersey rivals and leads the all-time series, 39-11.

 

Ramapo, ranked #10 in the Bison/AVCA Division III Men’s Coaches Top 15 Poll, hit .406 as a team (54-13-101) and was led by senior outside hitter Shane Donohue (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township) who hit .522 with 13 kills (13-1-23) and four blocks. Senior middle blocker T.C. Elsasser (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) hit .350 with 10 kills (10-3-20), six digs and five blocks and senior middle blocker Tom Kohler (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) had 11 kills (11-8-24, .125), five digs and two aces.

 

RCNJ also receive a .600 attack line and nine kills (90-15) from senior outside hitter Dave Ross (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) and seven kills, seven digs, two blocks and a .636 percentage (7-0-11) out of senior Dan Sempkowski (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick). Senior setter Jairo Sierra (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) delivered 42 assists and seven digs.

 

Rodgers increased his career kills total to 1,277 with a line of 10-7-30) while rookie outside hitter KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) had nine kills, hit .273 (9-3-22) and seven digs. Sophomore CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens), who typically is NJCU’s starting libero, played outside in the match and had eight kills.

 

Sophomore setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) tallied 28 assists. Freshman middle blocker DANNY KOCHANSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) finished with five kills and two blocks.

 

NJCU played the match without three of six starters—senior opposite THIAGO SIQUEIRA (Newark, NJ/Science), sophomore outside hitter MARLEY PENA-GUZMAN (Atlanta, GA/Central Gwinnett (GA)) and freshman middle blocker AUSTIN BRYANT (Virginia Beach, VA/Kempsville), and with Edra not on defense.

Ramapo hit .571 as a team in the opening set (18-2-28) and had nine kills in the second frame (19-5-45, .300), while landing 17 more in the final game. NJCU had 14 kills in game one and 11 in the final set.