NEWARK, N.J. (October 27, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of William Paterson University Tuesday night in The Golden Dome Arena in what was the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) finale for both schools.

Rutgers took the first sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-15, and William Paterson won the final three, 25-21, 25-12 and 15-10.
 
R-N drops to 11-15 overall and 1-7 in the NJAC, while Paterson improves to 15-12 overall and 2-6 in the conference. Rutgers-Newark will close out its 2015 slate with a non-conference home contest against Lehman College Thursday night beginning at 7 p.m.
 
R-N 25, WPU 21
The first set featured ties until 14 at every number but two, and the Scarlet Raiders took their first two-point lead of the match after a combo block from freshman Jess Moy and senior Sharee Gordon and a kill from junior Kathy Hormaza.
 
An attack error on the back of a William Paterson timeout resulted in a three-point R-N lead, but the Pioneers came back to take a 19-18 advantage with a 4-1 run.
 
Rutgers-Newark responded with a 4-0 rally on an ace from sophomore Nathalie Breining, a kill from Hormaza and a pair of blocks from sophomore Rebecca Ford, forcing WPU to use its second timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Ford and Hormaza combined for a block, and after a Paterson tally, Hormaza's seventh kill of the first set gave the Raiders set point, with a Moy hammer staking the hosts to a 1-0 lead.
 
R-N 25, WPU 15
WPU raced out to a 3-1 lead to start, but the Scarlet Raiders raced right back, scoring 7-of-8 to take a 7-4 margin. Freshman Cassie Luken and junior Tabitha Davis picked up aces for the Raiders with Moy and Gordon notching a block and Moy picking up her sixth kill to give her 100 on the year.
 
Another Moy kill helped the Raiders to a 15-10 margin, and back-to-back-back monster kills from Hormaza (two) and Gordon pushed the lead to 19-12. Rutgers-Newark continued to up the advantage, getting kills from Luken and Sydney Tuman, and eventually taking the set on a beautiful Hormaza cross-court hammer.
 
WPU 25, R-N 21
Paterson doubled up the Scarlet Raiders early (8-4), forcing an R-N timeout, and extended to 17-8, before a 4-0 rally keyed by Gordon made it 17-12. R-N was able to get within three late, but Paterson did just enough down the stretch to force a fourth set (25-21).
 
WPU 25, R-N 12
In the fourth, WPU again doubled up the Scarlet Raiders early, leading 12-6 after 18 points and 16-8 after 24. The Pioneers extended the margin to as many as 12 (23-11, 24-12) before taking the set 25-12.
 
WPU 15, R-N 10
William Paterson again jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first four points and holding an 8-1 lead at the switch. R-N showed fight, getting within three (9-6) thanks in large part to two Gordon kills, but two-straight aces from junior Erin Roach helped give Paterson a 13-6 margin as the guests were able to close it out, 15-10.
 
Moy (17) and Hormaza (13) had monster offensive nights for the Scarlet Raiders, combining for 30 kills in hitting .190 and .188, respectively, with Hormaza tallying 17 digs for a double-double and Moy getting six digs and three blocks. Luken tallied nine kills (.273) and two aces, and Davis finished with six kills and nine digs. Gordon hit .182 in getting eight kills and a team-high six blocks, and Breining dished out 50 assists in the five sets. Sophomore Sue Riley had 27 digs as the Scarlet Raiders tallied 91 in total, and Breining added 11.

Rutgers-Newark hit .170 in the match, recording 57 kills, and William Paterson hit .202 with 59 kills. The Pioneers were led by 38 combined kills from senior Nicole Spicer and Roach.