Jersey City, NJ: #15 Ramapo College men's volleyball survived a tight first set before cruising in the final two defeating NJCU, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-16) in a North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro Division match on Wednesday night at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

Ramapo (2-1, 1-0 NECVA Metro) hit .266 as a team paced by the effort of junior middle hitter Paul Konopacki (Monroe Township, NJ/St. Joseph's-Metuchen) who posted 10 kills without an error in 13 swings for a .769 attack percentage. He had two blocks. Ramapo, ranked tied for #15 in the nation in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, leads the all-time series, 42-11 and has won the last 12 meetings between the long-time rivals.

NJCU (0-1, 0-1 NECVA Metro), playing its first-ever match under the modified 25-point rally scoring system, was led by Boyle who had 11 of the club's 26 kills. He had a line of 11-3-16 with four digs and two blocks.

Senior setter JORGE RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba/Memorial) provided 22 assists, giving him 1,490 for his career, and a team-high nine digs. Junior KENNY LISK (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge), a starting outside hitter last season, played his first career match at middle hitter and despite the inexperience at the position finished with six kills (6-3-16, .188) and two blocks. Senior libero CHRIS EDRA (Edison, NJ/J.P. Stevens) collected seven digs, giving him 769 for his career.

Ramapo had 14 players see action. Freshman setter Andrew Balint (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) had 18 assists and five digs while junior setter Mike Hrehovcik (Little Falls, NJ/Passaic Valley) tallied 17 assists. Senior libero Kevin McNerney (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) posted 11 digs.

Also for the Roadrunners, sophomore outside hitter Andrew Brown (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) collected seven kills (7-3-17, .235) and junior middle blocker Colin McNeill (Little Falls, NJ/Passaic Valley) had five kills (5-1-15, .267). Sophomore middle blocker Joel Castro (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township) stuffed three blocks (two solo) and had two aces.

Despite playing its first match of the year, NJCU came out on fire in set one and led the entire game until Ramapo made a late rally. Konopacki had five kills in seven swings in the set for a .714 percentage. The Knights lead stood by as many as five, 19-14 and NJCU maintained advantages of 21-17 and 22-19—the latter on a deep kill by senior outside hitter WILTON JIMENEZ (Passaic, NJ/Passaic). A slam by Boyle gave NJCU a 23-21 cushion. But Ramapo scored the final four points of the set. Konopacki had a kill and Castro made a solo rejection to tie the set at 23-23. Brown put the visitors in front with a winner before Ramapo won the game on an attack error.

The Roadrunners had the clear height advantage in the match and utilized it in the final two sets. A kill by Jimenez made it 14-12 in set two but a two-point margin was as close as NJCU would get. Ramapo led 15-13 before scoring 10 of the final 13 points for a 25-16 decision. The Roadrunners hit .321 in the set with 13 kills (13-4-28).

Ramapo jumped out to an 18-10 lead in set three, cruising to another 25-16 win. RCNJ posted a .375 attack rate in the final game with 15 kills (15-3-32). Boyle tried to will NJCU back into the match with seven kills (7-2-11) and a .455 attack percentage in the set.

NJCU is back in action on Friday, January 21 at 7 p.m. when it hosts Lehman College in a non-conference match. Ramapo hosts #6 ranked Philadelphia Biblical University at 8 p.m. that evening.