WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 23, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team suffered defeats at the hands of Gallaudet University and Marymount University Friday in the first day of the Worthington Classic hosted by Gallaudet.
R-N was topped by the host Bison in the tourney opener by a 3-1 final, and in the nightcap, the Scarlet Raiders were defeated by Marymount, 3-0.
The Scarlet Raiders (5-5) will battle Salisbury University (10 a.m.) and Wesley College (2 p.m.) Saturday in the tournament's final day of action.
Gallaudet 3, Rutgers-Newark 1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 25-14)
After falling in the first set 25-21, the Scarlet Raiders picked up a 25-16 second-set win to tie the match at one. The two sides were tied at seven before a 5-0 Rutgers-Newark run put the Raiders on top 12-7 as back-to-back kills from sophomore
Nicole Polak capped the spurt. A hammer from sophomore
Jess Moy pushed the Newark lead to a six at 16-10, and a
Sue Riley ace later made it 21-14. A kill from Polak brought up set point and a Bison error sealed it for Rutgers-Newark.
In the third, Gallaudet (5-8) was able to open a 16-11 lead, pushing the margin to eight with back-to-back kills. R-N fought back with four-straight points to pull within four, but it was too little too late and the Bison had a 2-1 lead.
With the two teams tied at three early in the third, Gallaudet went on a big 6-0 run to take control. The lead would move to eight (16-8) before the hosts closed out the match with three of the final four markers.
The Scarlet Raiders hit .062 in the match, picking up 32 kills, five aces, eight blocks, 32 assists and 64 digs. Rutgers-Newark played an excellent second, hitting .364 with 12 kills and just three errors. Gallaudet totaled 51 kills and a hitting percentage of .239. The Bison hit .357 in the third and out-pointed R-N, 65-45 overall.
Senior
Tabitha Davis tallied nine kills, two blocks and two digs, and sophomore
Cassie Luken had nine kills and 17 digs to pace the Scarlet Raiders. Kopacz finished with 16 assists, six kills and five digs, with Riley racking up 16 digs, four assists and two digs. Senior
Kathy Hormaza tallied nine helpers and 11 digs – just missing a double-double.
Marymount 3, Rutgers-Newark 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-20)
Marymount created some separation in the first with a 5-0 run which gave the Saints a 9-4 lead, and the margin moved to seven (15-8) on the strength of a 4-0 spurt.
Rutgers-Newark made it a set with a 3-0 rally that featured kills from Kopacz and Davis, but the Saints responded with a 3-0 run of their own and eventually closed it out for the 1-0 lead.
It was all Marymount in the second as the Saints ran off eight-straight points to start the set (8-0), and they never let Rutgers-Newark closer than five.
A Kopacz service ace knotted things at 10-all in the third, and after falling behind by three, Newark got another Kopacz kill to make it 15-14 Marymount. Unfortunately, the Saints ran off four of the next five points to go back up four, closing it out on a 4-1 run after the Scarlet Raiders had pulled within two (21-19).
Rutgers-Newark hit a match-high .250 in the third set, finishing at .085 for the contest. Marymount put down 49 kills and converted at a .274 clip overall, .385 in the third.
Kopacz led Rutgers-Newark with five kills in, while Hormaza had 14 assists. Riley led the team with 14 digs and both Moy and Luken tallied one block.
