New York, NY - The John Jay women's volleyball team returned to its winning ways with a return to The Doghouse Thursday night.
The New Jersey City University (NJCU) Gothic Knights made their first trip to John Jay since 2019 and the Bloodhounds welcomed them with a 3-1 win.
Their victory Thursday night shakes off a pair of losses at the weekend in the Wilkes tri-match.
The Gothic Knights got out to an early 6-3 lead thanks in part to a pair of kills by Brenda Gonzalez. Josanne Lewis willed the Bulldogs back in front with three kills in the next four points, as John Jay retook a 7-6 advantage.
First set action was deadlocked into the late stages until Meghan Smith fueled a 4-0 run with a kill and an ace to push the Bloodhounds to an 18-14 lead. Despite a push back from the Gothic Knights capitalizing on attacking errors, the home team ended the set on a 7-1 run with kills from Lewis and Faith Harer.
Early points in the second set were dead even before Smith took serve with a 9-9 tie. She notched a pair of service aces before the attack came through for her to the tune of a 9-0 run. The Bloodhounds went up by as many as 20-10 and went on to win 25-14.
A shuffled lineup took the floor as a new crop of Bloodhounds looked to get their chops against NJCU. After a number of rotation errors by the visitors, Paige Sadowitz, Hannah Knox and Jovianna Bennett all tallied kills as the Bloodhounds ran out to a 17-8 advantage in the third set. The tide turned from its highest point for the hosts as the attack errors began to rack up for the less experienced group. John Jay committed 10 errors down the stretch as they salted away a nine-point lead down the stretch, with the Gothic Knights forcing a third set with a 27-25 third set win.
With a refreshed look on the floor, the Bloodhounds attack was restored. The experience core totaled a match-high 15 kills and a .275 hitting percentage. The offensive dominance as the John Jay attack ran up a 15-5 lead to start the game featuring strong performances from Reilly Catan and Harer. They maintained the advantage for 25-14 fourth set, and match, win.
The victory moves the Bloodhounds to 16-4 on the year.
Josanne Lewis finished the night with 14 kills, her seventh match this season with at least that many.
Paige Sadowitz finished the match with five blocks and four kills, her second highest in each category in a match this season.
NEXT UP: The Bloodhounds play their final tri-match of the season on Saturday Oct. 21 in Winchester, Vir. John Jay will will face host Shenandoah University (11:00 a.m.) and Penn State Harrisburg (1:00 p.m.).