Box Score WAYNE, NJ – Rutgers University-Newark's chance for a New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament berth slipped away as William Paterson posted a 3-0 win in the WPU Rec Center in the final regular-season match.
In what was essentially a play-in battle for the last of six league playoff berths, the Scarlet Raiders (16-11, NJAC 2-6) fell 25-21, 25-22, 25-13, to the Pioneers (18-9, NJAC 3-5). WPU starts play in the NJAC tournament next Tuesday while Rutgers-Newark will have to wait on a possible ECAC Metro Championship Tournament bid. The ECAC bracket will be announced on November 10.
Junior middle blocker
Sharee Gordon led the Raiders with nine kills, a solo block and a blocking assist while freshman outside hitter
Karolina Kopacz added eight kills and six digs. Freshman outside hitter
Sydney Tuman collected five kills and a blocking assist while sophomore right side
Tabitha Davis and freshman middle blocker
Amber Borowski each totaled three kills and a pair of blocking assists.
Sophomore defensive specialist
Kathy Hormaza led the Raiders with 10 digs while freshman libero
Sue Riley added nine. Hormaza and sophomore right side
Hannah Riede delivered the Raiders' two aces.
Junior outside hitter Nicole Spicer paced a balanced Pioneer attack with match highs of 12 kills and four aces. Senior middle hitter Shauna VanDeRee notched 11 kills and got in on five of WPU's six blocks. Senior outside hitter Daniella Salemo recorded a double-double with 10 kills and a match-high 13 digs. Sophomore middle hitter Ariana Gomez tallied eight kills while sophomore outside hitter Erin Roach chipped in five kills and 10 digs.
The Pioneers hit .237 (46 kills, 18 errors, 118 attacks) behind 38 assists from senior setter Danielle Koukos to the Raiders' .158 (30-14-101). Koukos added two aces as WPU posted nine aces to Rutgers-Newark's two.
The Raiders had a chance to pull even in the match in game two, but the Pioneers put together a late rally to take the set and gain control of the contest. A kill by Gordon set off a 5-point Rutgers-Newark run fueled by four consecutive WPU errors to give the Raiders a 20-18 lead. Another Gordon kill made it 21-19, Rutgers-Newark, before Spicer ignited a 4-point Pioneer run with a kill and an ace. A Raider attack error was followed by a block by Koukos and Gomez to make it 23-21, WPU. After a Pioneer service error sliced the Raider deficit to one, Spicer and VanDeRee ended the frame with back-to-back kills.
In the first game, a kill by Davis tied the set at 11-11 before a ball-handling error put the Pioneers ahead for good. A kill by Gomez pushed the WPU lead to 21-15 before Rutgers-Newark rallied to trim its deficit to 22-21 on an ace by Hormaza. But VanDeRee and Koukos notched back-to-back blocks ahead of an attack error by the Raiders to end the opener.
The Pioneers tallied the first four points of the third game and led wire-to-wire.
