Box Score NEWARK, N.J. – Junior middle blocker
Sharee Gordon posted match highs of 11 kills and 12.5 points as Rutgers University-Newark swept the College of New Rochelle, 3-0, for the program's first ECAC playoff win in 13 years.
The fourth-seeded Scarlet Raiders (17-11) rolled to a 25-20, 25-17, 25-12 victory over the fifth-seeded Blue Angels (25-8) to advance to the ECAC Metro/Upstate Championship semifinals on Sunday at the Orvis Activities Center on the campus of Alfred State University in western New York. Rutgers-Newark will battle New Jersey Athletic Conference foe Ramapo (25-9), the 5-team tournament's top seed, at 11 a.m. on Sunday with second-seeded Ithaca (23-11) taking on third-seeded Alfred State (25-9) at 1:30 p.m. The title match between the winners is set to start at 4 p.m.
Gordon hit .333 with 11 kills and just four errors on 21 attacks while getting in on two of the Raiders' four blocks.
Freshman setter
Nathalie Breining distributed 26 assists while chipping in nine digs and three kills. Rookie outside hitter
Sydney Tuman added nine kills while freshman outside hitter
Karolina Kopacz posted seven kills, an ace and eight digs.
The Raiders played well defensively with three players posting double-digit digs. Freshman libero
Sue Riley had a team-high 17 digs while sophomore right side
Tabitha Davis added 14 and sophomore defensive specialist
Kathy Hormaza contributed 13. Davis, Hormaza and sophomore right side
Hannah Riede delivered aces.
Freshman middle blocker
Amber Borowski finished with three kills, a solo block and a blocking assist while sophomore outside hitter
Chrissy Campanelli notched eight digs.
Senior outside hitter Meghan King paced New Rochelle with nine kills while freshman outside hitter Fabiola Padilla Rios had a match-high 18 digs to go along with six kills. Sophomore libero Tiany Perez Diaz totaled 16 digs and an ace.
After there were 10 ties and seven lead changes in the opening game, the Raiders broke away to dominate the rest of the match.
In game one, the Raiders reeled off the final five points to break a 20-20 tie with Davis ending the frame with an ace. Gordon had a pair of kills and Kopacz added a putaway during the decisive run. Gordon had five kills without an error on seven swings in the set.
Kopacz had three kills and an ace in the second game when Rutgers-Newark took control of the contest before Tuman put down five kills on just eight swings without an error to spark an easy game three win and end the evening.
Rutgers-Newark last won an ECAC playoff match in 2001 when the Raiders toppled Lebanon Valley, 3-0, in the ECAC South Championship at Moravian College. Moravian bumped Rutgers-Newark out of the tournament with a 3-1 defeat.
The Raiders dropped a 3-1 decision to Ramapo in The Golden Dome Arena on October 16 in the only meeting of the season between the NJAC rivals.
