SWARTHMORE, Pa. (November 9, 2016) – Top-seeded Swarthmore College defeated fourth-seeded Rutgers University-Newark by a score of 3-0 Wednesday night in the opening round of the 2016 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.
 
The Scarlet Raiders were making their second appearance in the postseason tournament in the last three years after not playing in the tournament since 2001. Rutgers-Newark finishes its season with a record of 15-14, while Swarthmore improves to 24-5 and moves on to the tournament quarterfinals.
 
Wednesday night's set scores were 25-16, 25-9 and 25-6 in favor of the Garnet.
 
Junior Karolina Kopacz, senior Tabitha Davis and junior Morgan Schweitzer led the Scarlet Raiders with four, three and three kills, respectively, while sophomore Cassie Luken delivered a team-best two service aces.
 
Kopacz and senior Kathy Hormaza each recorded five assists, while junior Sue Riley led the defense with 16 digs. Luken (seven) and Hormaza (seven) combined to lift 14 digs for the Scarlet Raiders who ended the match with 16 points, 12 kills, two aces, two blocks, 11 helpers and 42 digs. Swarthmore totaled 56 points, 40 kills, 12 aces, four rejections, 36 helpers and 47 digs. The host Garnet also hit .296 in the match while holding Rutgers-Newark to a -.083 hitting percentage.
 
The Scarlet Raiders battled in the first after falling behind 6-0, using a 4-0 run midway through the set to turn a nine-point hole into five-point deficit at 13-8. However, Swarthmore would surge ahead and the Scarlet Raiders could get no closer than five the rest of the way.
 
A 5-0 rally for Swarthmore early in the second gave the Garnet an 11-4 edge, and after a kill from Schweitzer and combo-block from junior Rebecca Ford and sophomore Jess Moy made it 11-6, a 9-0 run for the hosts made it 20-6 and Newark could not recover.
 
Swat would score 9-of-11 to start the third and cruised to the 19-point set-three-triumph to close out the match.
 
The 15 wins for the Scarlet Raiders are three more than the team earned in 2015, and Rutgers-Newark also reached the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament for the first time since 2006 under first-year Head Coach Megan Knott.
 
Wednesday night also marked the final match in the careers of seniors Tabitha Davis and Kathy Hormaza who were both huge parts of the program over the last four years.