NEWARK, N.J. (September 8, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team improved to 4-0 with a 3-1 win over the College of Mount Saint Vincent Tuesday night in The Golden Dome Arena.
 
The Scarlet Raiders – who dropped a set for the first time this season after going 9-for-9 in their first three matches – won by set scores of 25-15, 25-22, 14-25 and 25-21.
 
R-N was led by freshman outside Cassie Luken who finished with 10 kills (.269) and 16 digs for a double-double, adding an ace to her line as well. Sophomore libero Sue Riley registered a team-high 19 digs, and sophomore setter Nathalie Breining had 20 assists, two kills and four digs. Sophomore outside Hayley Merrill finished with nine kills (.333), 12 digs, two aces and three blocks, with senior middle Sharee Gordon notching eight kills (.467) and two blocks. Junior Tabitha Davis added four kills and six digs, sophomore middle Rebecca Ford had three blocks, freshman right side Andrea Antal added four kills and freshman setter Bryanna Urbaez dished out nine assists and tallied four digs.
 
R-N hit .195 in the match, including converting at a .344 clip in the first set. The Scarlet Raiders picked up 34 assists as a team, tallying six team blocks and four aces.
 
Mount Saint Vincent (0-6) was led by senior middle Ashleigh Scozzari who was excellent, recording 28 kills (.262), five digs and four block assists. The Dolphins hit .126 in the match, had 10 aces and 75 digs.
 
R-N 25, CMSV 15
The Scarlet Raiders dominated the opening set, rolling to a 10-point win and taking a 1-0 lead in the match. After eight points, R-N led 7-1, getting kills from three different players. The Dolphins fought back to get within two at 7-5, but an 8-1 run essentially sealed it for Rutgers-Newark. With Urbaez serving, two kills from Gordon and a kill from Luken were responsible for three tallies, and after a CMSV point, five points behind Luken's serve made it 20-8. The two teams traded markers down the stretch before a service error clinched it for the Scarlet Raiders.
 
R-N 25, CMSV 22
The Scarlet Raiders needed to come back in the second set, falling behind 18-13 before a timeout from head coach Jason Madsen. Immediately following the break, the Scarlet Raiders ripped off three-straight points to get within two (18-16), eventually tying the score at 21 again on the back of Luken's serve. A timeout with the score tied at 21 from the Dolphins did little to slow the R-N momentum as the Raiders received a kill from Antal and a CMSV error to take a 23-21 edge. Mount Saint Vincent was able to pull within one (23-22) before Ford and Merrill combined on a block to end the set.
 
CMSV 25, R-N 14
The Dolphins controlled the third set, refusing to go away quietly as the guests scored 8-of-10 to start. Rutgers-Newark made a run, getting within four on two separate occasions early, but could not get over the hump.
 
Down 16-9, the Scarlet Raiders used a timeout and went on a 5-1 rally to make it 17-14 thanks to the strong serve of Breining, but the guests responded with eight-straight points to close it out for the win thanks in large part to Scozzari.
 
R-N 25, CMSV 21
The fourth set was a see-saw battle with five ties as the Scarlet Raiders ran off five-straight to start, followed by the same from the Dolphins. Later in the action, Rutgers-Newark would jump on top 14-9 thanks to a kills from Urbaez and Antal and an ace from Luken.
 
Despite the nice lead midway through, it was not smooth sailing as the Dolphins came back to tie things at 16 and even took 17-16 edge. A Luken kill brought the Raiders even and two errors handed the hosts a two-point margin it would never relinquish, getting a kill from Merrill on the team's third attempt at match point for the victory.
 
The Scarlet Raiders return to the court Thursday at the Pratt Institute. Opening serve is set for 7:30 p.m.