Box Score KING'S POINT, N.Y. (September 2, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team picked up an improbable win Friday afternoon at the United States Merchant Marine Academy as the Scarlet Raiders came back from a 2-0 deficit to win the match, 3-2.
 
With the win, Rutgers-Newark improves to 2-0 overall and will return to action at the College of Mount Saint Vincent Tuesday. USMMA drops to 0-1.
 
After falling behind 2-0 via identical 25-19 set losses, Rutgers-Newark rallied to force a fifth and final set. In that deciding set, the Scarlet Raiders jumped on top 3-1, but the Mariners came back with a 7-2 run to take an 8-5 lead at the switch.
 
After first-year head coach Megan Knott used a timeout, the Scarlet Raiders roared back, tying the score at 11 following a kill from junior Morgan Schweitzer, and a Schweitzer-Tabitha Davis block put the guests on top 13-12. An ace for junior Karolina Kopacz gave Newark match point, and the Scarlet Raiders sealed it when a Merchant Marine attempt sailed out of bounds.
 
Rutgers-Newark had 30 kills in the match, also recording 24 assists, 13 aces and 78 digs.
 
USMMA 25, Rutgers-Newark 19
The Scarlet Raiders jumped in front in the first set, opening a 5-2 lead after an ace from junior Sue Riley and a kill from junior Christina Maglione. The hosts would come back to tie things at six-all, but the Raiders responded with a 5-0 run to take an 11-6 edge.
 
A see-saw set continued as Merchant Marine went on a 9-1 run to go on top 15-12, and the Raiders responded with a rally to take a 17-16 lead.
 
The Mariners would go on the final run of the first, running off nine of the final 11 tallies for a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
USMMA 25, Rutgers-Newark 19
The two sides were tied after 18 points in the second (9-9), and a 5-1 run for King's Point made it 14-10 in favor of the home team. Rutgers-Newark scrapped, battling within one (15-14) following back-to-back-to-back errors, but that would be as close as the Raiders could get, falling by the 25-19 final.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, USMMA 14
Facing a 2-0 deficit, the Scarlet Raiders showed some big-time grit, racing out to a 7-1 lead behind the serve of Kopacz and sophomore Analis Capobianco. Capobianco picked up two aces, and senior Tabitha Davis put down a kill in the sterling start.
 
R-N continued to roll, upping its lead to 11 after a hammer from sophomore Nicole Polak, and the lead swelled to as many as 14 after a 6-0 rally turned an 18-10 margin to 24-10 lead, all but clinching the set-win.
 
Rutgers-Newark 26, USMMA 24
The Scarlet Raider comeback continued with a remarkable rally in the fourth set, coming back to erase an 18-11 deficit. Sophomore Cassie Luken served for much of the rally, with Polak, Luken (two) and Kopacz getting kills to pull Newark within two at 21-19. Merchant Marine went back up by three at 23-20 and had match point at 24-22, but three-straight attacking errors helped the Scarlet Raiders to a 25-24 edge and a monster combo-block from Davis and junior Rebecca Ford forced a fifth and final set.
 
Luken and Kopacz each tallied a team-high seven kills, and three service aces. Kopacz added 17 digs and nine assists to her line, while Luken had six digs. Davis finished with five kills and two blocks, and Riley rang up 27 digs along with three service aces. Capobianco also had three aces to go with seven digs, and senior Kathy Hormaza just missed her second double-double with nine helpers and 10 digs.