NEWARK, NJ – Freshman Rachel Witt, sophomore Toni Moppert and junior Na-Keta Michael each tallied double-digit points to lead Rutgers-Newark to a 3-1 win over Kean in The Golden Dome Rec Gym. Set scores were 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 28-26. 

Rutgers-Newark 3, Kean 1

The victory was the first of the season for the Scarlet Raiders (1-21, NJAC 1-4), and pushed them past the Cougars (10-6, NJAC 0-4) in New Jersey Athletic Conference standings.

Witt had 10 kills, an ace and two assisted blocks to go along with 13 digs to total a dozen points. Moppert posted nine kills, two aces and an assisted block to added 14 digs while Michael came up with eight kills, an ace, two solo blocks and an assisted block.

A kill by Moppert and a solo block by Michael capped the final set which featured seven ties and three lead changes as the Raiders rallied from an 18-12 deficit. Moppert had five kills and seven digs in the set.

Senior libero Val Dauti came up with a career 23 digs while junior setter Gabi Mangieri notched a career-best 32 assists. Freshman middle blocker Stephanie Touzan was limited to three kills, but she added eight digs and a match-high four service aces. Junior middle blocker Crystal Navarro chipped in five kills, an ace and a solo block.

Sophomore outside hitter Jamie Sacco delivered a match-high 14 kills for the Cougars and sophomore middle blocker Tara Richey added nine kills, an ace and three solo blocks.

After winning just three sets in their first 20 matches, the steadily improving Raiders have now taken five of their last nine. Rutgers-Newark fell, 3-2, to the College of Staten Island on Saturday, letting an 11-8 edge in the fifth set slip away.

In set one, Witt and Navarro had back-to-back kills to stake the Raiders to a 23-21 advantage before consecutive errors by the Cougars gave the Raiders their first opening set win of the season.

After Kean bounced back to even the match in the second set, Rutgers-Newark got back-to-back kills by Touzan followed by an ace by Navarro to seize a 14-11 lead in the third frame. Kean got no closer than one after than as Navarro ended the set with back-to-back kills.

Rutgers-Newark travels to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Thursday for a 7 p.m. non-conference match.