UNION, N.J. (October 11, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team saw its five-match winning streak snapped Tuesday night at Kean University as the Cougars topped the Scarlet Raiders by a score of 3-0 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) match.
Rutgers-Newark drops to 11-8 overall and 2-3 in the conference, while the Cougars move to 13-8 overall and 3-3 in the NJAC.
Tuesday's set scores were 25-18, 25-17 and 25-17.
Rutgers-Newark finished the match with 28 points, 24 kills, three blocks, 19 assists and 40 digs, while the Cougars racked up 51 points, 39 kills, seven aces, five blocks, 36 assists and 51 digs. R-N finished the night hitting, .071, while the Cougars converted at a .235 clip.
Sophomore
Cassie Luken led the Scarlet Raiders with 10 kills and 10 digs for a double-double, maintaining a strong a .263 hitting percentage. A trio of Scarlet Raiders had a trio of kills in senior
Tabitha Davis, junior
Karolina Kopacz and junior
Morgan Schweitzer. Kopacz had 13 assists and a team-high 11 digs for a double-double, and junior
Sue Riley lifted 10 digs.
Kean opened an early 7-3 lead in the first set, but the Scarlet Raiders chipped away and eventually tied things at 12. An ace from sophomore
Analis Capobianco knotted things at 18 moments later, but the Cougars took the 1-0 lead in the match behind a 7-0 run to close the set.
The hosts carried over the momentum early in the second, taking an 11-4 margin after 15 points. A Luken kill following a Cougar error allowed the Scarlet Raiders to get within two (15-3) after a 9-4 rally, but Kean responded and Rutgers-Newark could get no closer the rest of the second.
A Luken kill and Luken-Davis block allowed R-N to take an early 3-1 edge in the third, but Kean would use a 6-0 run to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 9-5 margin. That advantage would move to 16-8 after a mini 3-0 run, and despite seeing its lead trimmed to three on two occasions, a late 5-0 run for the Cougars was enough for the sweep.
Rutgers-Newark will host Ramapo College at 7 p.m. Thursday night in The Golden Dome in an NJAC showdown.
