NEWARK, N.J. (October 17, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team lost a five-set heartbreaker Rutgers University-Camden in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match Saturday at The Golden Dome Arena.
The set scores were 18-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21 and 15-10. Rutgers-Newark drops to 1-6 in the NJAC and 10-11 overall, while Rutgers-Camden moves to 4-2 in the conference and 11-9 overall.
Camden hit .160 in the match compared to .123 for Newark, as R-N converted at a match-best .296 clip in the first set, totaling 45 kills, 25 errors, four aces, seven blocks and 75 digs. Rutgers-Camden finished with 62 kills, seven aces, six blocks and 82 digs, with each team demonstrating strong defense throughout the match.
The Scarlet Raiders had three reach double figures in kills in junior
Tabitha Davis (11), freshman
Jess Moy (10) and senior
Sharee Gordon (10). Gordon added five blocks, and sophomore setter
Nathalie Breining dished out 33 assists. Junior
Kathy Hormaza paced the Raiders with 17 digs, while sophomore
Sue Riley had 16 and freshman
Analis Capobianco added 11. Davis hit .273 and Gordon finished at .222.
Brooke Hassan tallied 51 assists for Camden and Olivia Rowland had 19 kills.
In the first set, R-N turned a 15-14 deficit into a 19-15 lead on the back of Gordon's serve and kills from Gordon, Davis and Capobianco, running off the final three points of set to go on top 1-0.
The second set was back-and-forth before Camden went on a big run to turn a 9-9 tie into an 18-9 margin, evening things at one-all.
Rutgers-Newark jumped out in front in the third set, leading 14-11 after a kill from Moy, but Camden responded with a run to take a 16-14 lead. Four-straight points from the Raiders helped by a Davis kill and Capobianco ace gave them an 18-16 edge, and after the Raptors tied, several errors, a Hormaza kill and Gordon/Davis block propelled the Raiders to a 22-18 lead they would not give up.
The see-saw match continued in the fourth as both teams saw early runs answered, and the set was tied at eight, 10 and 11. A 5-1 run from the Raiders made it a 16-12 set, and after a mini-Camden rally, an error helped the Scarlet Raiders to a 19-16 margin. From that point, the guests battled back, closing the fourth on a 9-2 run to force a fifth and final set.
Despite losing the momentum, Rutgers-Newark jumped ahead 3-0 in the fifth and led 8-6 at the switch following a Gordon kill, but Camden closed strong, ending the match on another 9-2 spurt to secure the key conference victory.
Rutgers-Newark will return to the hardwood Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when the Scarlet Raiders host Mount Saint Mary College in The Golden Dome Arena.
