Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College men's volleyball team played host to New Jersey City University tonight at the Bradley Center earning a 3-0 sweep over the Gothic Knights to improve to 18-8 overall. NJCU falls to 17-9 with the loss.

The Roadrunners jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the start of game one after rookie Steve Vahalla (Bloomfield, NJ) contributed on four points with three kills and an assisted block. NJCU finally got on the board with a kill from Jose Matta (Puerto Rico), 7-1. Ramapo continued to spread their lead throughout the entire game taking their biggest lead at the final point with a 10-5 run to close out the game, 30-15. The run was sparked by a kill from Paul Konopacki (Monroe Twp., NJ), and capped off with an attacking error from Matta. Vahalla led the Roadrunners with four kills while the team combined for 13 kills on 30 attempts with four errors hitting .300. Senior setter Matt Scott (Edison, NJ) assisted on 11 kills and Kurt Backlund (Old Bridge, NJ) and Kevin McNerney (Bayonne, NJ) each added three digs to the win. NJCU went 9-32 with 11 errors hitting -.062 led by three kills from Matta. Jorge Rodriguez (Cuba) dished out four assists.

The Gothic Knights took control of game two pushing ahead 5-1, with three earned points from Matta, Kenny Lisk (Old Bridge, NJ), and Austin Bryant (Virginia Beach, VA), and two Ramapo errors. The Roadrunners chipped away on their lead tying the game at 11-11 on a kill from Colin McNeill (Little Falls, NJ). The two teams traded points until 13-13, when the Roadrunners pushed for two taking a 15-13 edge on back-to-back NJCU errors. Ramapo held a slight advantage until 25-25 when the Gothic Knights tied the game for the fourth time off a Vahalla error. The teams battled it out point-for-point to the end until a yellow card on Ramapo's bench put the team's tied again, this time 30-30. A forced NJCU error on Lisk, and a kill from rookie Kevin Froehlich (Ringwood, NJ), closed out the game, 32-30 in Ramapo's favor. Ramapo hit .220 with 18 total kills, led by McNeill's six, and Matta led NJCU with seven of the team's 19 kills, hitting .200 in the game. NJCU hit .255 combined. Scott dished out 12 assists and led the defense with four digs while Rodriguez dished out ten assists for NJCU. Felipe Siqueira (Newark, NJ) added nine assists of his own.

The final game went to the Roadrunners, 30-27 behind four kills each from Froehlich and McNeill. The team combined for 18 kills on 39 attempts hitting .282, ahead of NJCU's .167 with 16 kills on 42 attempts with nine errors. Matta led the Gothic Knights with eight kills and Siqueira and Rodriguez dished out six and five assists respectively. The two teams battled it out in the final game with NJCU taking a seven point lead at 13-6 with an attacking error by Scott. Ramapo again chipped away tying the game at 14 with a NJCU error, and taking the lead finally at 19-18 with a NJCU service error. Rookie Joel Castro (Vernon, NJ) closed out the game for Ramapo with his third kill of the game.

McNeill finished on top of all Ramapo attackers with 13 kills and contributed six total blocks on defense, while Froehlich and Josh Castillo (Garfield, NJ) each finished the night with nine kills of their own. Scott finished the night with 37 assists and Backlund led the team's defense with ten digs. Ramapo hit .261 on the night with 49 kills on 119 attempts and 18 errors.

NJCU wrapped up the match hitting 44-121 with 27 errors hitting .140, led by Matta's 18 kills. Rodriguez dished out 19 assists and Siqueira finished with 17, while libero Chris Edra (Edison, NJ) earned a team high 18 digs.

The Roadrunners return to action on Thursday evening when they host New Haven at 7pm. Three members of the team will be honored prior to the match in a senior day presentation.