NEWARK, N.J. (September 1, 2016) – Junior Karolina Kopacz and senior Kathy Hormaza each had double-doubles as the Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 sweep of the College of Saint Elizabeth in the 2016 season opener Thursday night in The Golden Dome.
 
The set scores were 25-13, 25-16 and 25-10.
 
Rutgers-Newark moves to 1-0 on the young season and will return to action Friday at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. CSE drops to 0-1.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Saint Elizabeth 13
After 18 points the set was tied at nine apiece, but the Scarlet Raiders erupted, finding their footing and closing the set on a 16-4 run. Kopacz, senior Tabitha Davis, junior Christina Maglione and sophomore Cassie Luken all had at least one kill with junior Sue Riley and junior Morgan Schweitzer pocketing aces.
 
Luken led the Raiders in the first with three kills, and Hormaza had seven digs.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Saint Elizabeth 16
The Scarlet Raiders started the second set exactly how they ended the first, ripping off five of the first six points to take a 5-1 edge. Davis had a kill and Riley picked up another ace as well.
 
CSE would get within two points at 12-10, but a 4-0 rally featuring kills from Kopacz and Luken upped the advantage back to six, and the Scarlet Raiders cruised the rest of the set.
 
Rutgers-Newark hit a solid .182 in the second set, and were led by four kills from Kopacz.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Saint Elizabeth 10
Rutgers-Newark slammed the door early in the third, using a remarkable 15-2 run to turn a 4-3 edge into a mammoth 19-5 margin. Luken had two aces and Kopacz had two kills to pace the Raiders. Schweitzer, Maglione and Kopacz all had at least one block, and sophomore Analis Capobianco tallied a service ace to bring the hosts match point (24-10).
 
The Scarlet Raiders finished with 29 kills, 25 assists, nine aces, 41 digs and 5.0 team blocks. They hit a match-best .308 in the third set, finishing at .203 overall.
 
Kopacz finished with 11 kills and a ridiculous .667 hitting percentage. She added 12 assists for her double-double, adding five digs for good measure. Luken had seven kills (.333), two aces and six digs, with Davis and Schweitzer each picking up four kills. Hormaza's double-double came by notching 11 assists and 10 digs, and Riley had nine digs to go along with two aces.
 
Stat of the Night: Six different Scarlet Raiders had aces on the night with Schweitzer, Luken and Riley all picking up two.
 
Stat of the Night 2: Rutgers-Newark outscored CSE 75-39 in the three sets.