NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark seniors Rachel Witt and Stephanie Touzan closed out their home careers with a 3-0 win over the College of Staten Island in The Golden Dome.  Set scores were 25-13, 25-18, 25-11, in the non-conference contest.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Witt had a match-high 16 kills while hitting .652 (16 kills, 1 error, 23 attacks) and added a service ace and two assisted blocks as the Scarlet Raiders improved to 12-10 overall.  Touzan tallied four kills, two aces and an assisted block on Senior Day.

The victory was the Raiders' sixth in their last seven matches and buoyed hopes for a winning season with five contests left on the regular-season agenda.

Junior setter Jen Mendoza distributed 31 assists as Rutgers-Newark hit a solid .303 (39-9-99).  She also notched a team-high 11 digs plus an ace.

Junior outside hitter Ula Nieznalska hammered down nine kills, made nine digs and roped three of the Raiders' 10 aces while freshman middle blocker Sharee Gordon hit .545 with seven kills and just one error on 11 swings.

Sophomore middle hitter Pola Poskrobko paced the Dolphins (5-12) with nine kills, but CSI could muster just 19 kills and three aces.

Witt and Nieznalska had four kills apiece as Rutgers-Newark rolled to an easy win in the opening set, but the Dolphins made it a match in the second frame.

Poskrobko had five kills in game two when there were eight ties and two lead changes before Witt fueled a decisive 4-point run for the Raiders.  After a Poskrobko kill leveled the score at 9-9, Witt sandwiched kills around a kill by Nieznalska before teaming with Touzan for a block to make it 13-9.  Witt totaled seven kills on nine swings without an error in the set and Rutgers-Newark never trailed in the match again.

Rutgers-Newark visits York NY on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. non-conference match before reentering New Jersey Athletic Conference play at Montclair State on Thursday.