NEWARK, N.J. (September 20, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team picked up its first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) win of the season Thursday night, rolling to a 3-0 sweep over visiting New Jersey City University in The Golden Dome.
 
Rutgers-Newark evens its league record at 1-1, improving to 5-2 overall, while NJCU drops to 6-3 overall and 0-2 in the NJAC.
 
The Scarlet Raiders will travel to Washington, D.C. for four matches in the Gallaudet Tournament this weekend, battling Gallaudet, Marymount, Salisbury and Wesley.

Schedule
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, NJCU 7
Newark came out clicking, running off 9-of-10 to start the match behind the serve of sophomore Jess Moy and junior Karolina Kopacz. After a Gothic Knight timeout, Newark continued to roll, getting a kill from sophomore Cassie Luken, and the lead moved to 10 points thanks to a kill from senior Tabitha Davis.
 
A rejection followed by an ace from freshman Christina Ko helped Newark to a 14-2 margin, and another ace two tallies later made it 16-2 Rutgers-Newark.
 
Things continued to go well for the hosts in the first with an ace from Luken making it 20-4, and a serving error giving Newark the 25-7 set-one-win.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, NJCU 21
Rutgers-Newark opened a 6-2 margin early in the second, getting two aces from Ko and a kill from Luken, but NJCU would rally back to tie things 7-7 after an ace from freshman Stephanie Duque.
 
A combo-block from junior Rebecca Ford and Kopacz followed by an ace from junior Sue Riley helped the Raiders to a two-point lead. The margin would stay between one and two points until a Newark error allowed NJCU to tie things at 15-all.
 
After falling behind by a single tally (16-15), R-N responded with three quick points to go back up two (18-16) and forced NJCU to call timeout. A kill from Kopacz after the timeout made it five-straight Raider tallies, with an NJCU kill from Ayleen Pittar pulling the Gothic Knights back within three at 23-20.
 
An NJCU service error brought up set point, and Rutgers-Newark would close it out following a Riley-to-Davis kill.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, NJCU 10
Newark started hot once again in the third, ripping off an amazing 12 of the first 13 points in the set. Junior Morgan Schweitzer did most of the serving in the rally, dropping in several aces and a plethora of other well-placed shots.
 
A Luken ace helped Rutgers to a 16-4 edge after 20 points, and the hosts eventually sealed the deal with back-to-back kills from Davis and sophomore Nicole Polak.
 
The Scarlet Raiders dominated the stat-sheet, hitting .202 in the match and holding NJCU down at -.077. R-N had 45 points, 29 kills, 13 aces, three blocks, 26 helpers and 39 digs. NJCU had just 22 points and 15 kills.
 
Kopacz (nine), Davis (seven) and Luken (six) led the Rutgers-Newark attack, while Ko picked up a career-high four service aces in a solid effort. Ford paced the blocking unit with a two, while Kopacz tallied a team-best 13 assists. Senior Kathy Hormaza had six helpers and Riley added four. Luken (11) and Riley (nine) combined for 20 digs in the triumph.