WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 24, 2016) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team split two matches on the final day of action at the Worthington Classic hosted by Gallaudet University. The Scarlet Raiders opened the day with a 3-0 loss to Salisbury University but bounced back with a 3-1 win over Wesley College.
 
Rutgers-Newark is now 6-6 overall and will return to the court at Mount Saint Mary College Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
 
In the win over Wesley, Rutgers-Newark was led by junior Karolina Kopacz who picked up her third triple-double of the season.
 
Salisbury 3, Rutgers-Newark 0 (25-10, 27-25, 25-9)
The Sea Gulls were able to earn the sweep over the Scarlet Raiders to improve to 10-5 on the season, getting double-digit victories in the first and third set and nipping a feisty R-N group in the second.
 
In the first, Salisbury jumped out in front 6-0, and then used a 5-0 run to take a 10-point margin at 17-7 before closing it out.
 
Rutgers-Newark rebounded in the second, using a 3-0 run to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 lead featuring a kill from sophomore Cassie Luken and a combo block from junior Rebecca Ford and Kopacz.
 
The Sea Gulls came back to take a three-point lead, but later in the set, a 4-0 Newark spurt helped the Raiders to a 17-16 lead. Luken delivered a service ace and junior Morgan Schweitzer came through with a kill.
 
The two teams would trade points down the stretch, and Rutgers-Newark would fight off two set points for the Gulls, but Salisbury was able to get the points it needed for the 2-0 lead.
 
In the third, Rutgers jumped on top 2-0, but the Sea Gulls answered with a 12-1 run to take control and ended the match with a late 5-1 rally.
 
Luken led the Scarlet Raiders with 11 kills and Schweitzer added seven. Kopacz had 15 assists, and Riley (12), Schweitzer (seven) and Luken (six) combined for 25 digs.
 
Rutgers-Newark hit .050 in the match, totaling 28 kills, two aces, 26 assists and 39 digs. Salisbury converted at a .297 clip, finishing with 37 kills, six aces and five blocks.
 
Rutgers-Newark 3, Wesley 1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-16)
Wesley took the first set 25-22, but the Scarlet Raiders rallied to take the final three to snap a four-match skid and even their record at 6-6 on the season.
 
The second set changed the match as the R-N ladies squeaked out a two-point win (26-24), and rolled with relative ease in sets three and four.
 
The Wolverines (8-7) took the upper hand early in the second, opening a seven-point margin (12-5) after just 17 points. However, Rutgers-Newark turned the match on its head, roaring back with a monster 10-2 run to take a 15-14 lead. Kopacz and Schweitzer each had two kills in the match-changing rally, with senior Tabitha Davis and Luken each picking up one.
 
The two teams would go point-for-point the rest of the set, but Newark picked up the two biggest points, using a service error and ball handling error for the 26-24 victory.
 
Up one (8-7) in the third, the Scarlet Raiders ripped off 10-of-12 to take an 18-9 lead. Schweitzer tallied a service ace and two kills and Kopacz recorded a pair of kills to key the run. Wesley was able to trim the R-N lead to six at 21-15, but a Kopacz kill halted any building momentum and R-N cruised down the stretch.
 
Rutgers-Newark raced out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth set, scoring six-straight points on the serve of sophomore Jess Moy. Moy had two aces and R-N got kills from Davis, Ford, Luken and Schweitzer.
 
The lead would move to nine after a kill from Kopacz made it 15-6, and despite a late run from Wesley, the set and match was never in doubt.
 
Rutgers-Newark hit .238 in the match which was their highest mark since a sweep of Farmingdale State College five outings ago and the team's second-best mark this season.
 
Kopacz had 17 kills (.484), 19 assists and 11 digs in an excellent triple-double performance, while Luken picked up a 10-kill, 13-dig double-double. Davis and Schweitzer each had nine kills, with Schweitzer adding 14 digs to her line. Riley had a team-high 16 digs, and senior Kathy Hormaza dished out a team-best 24 helpers to go along with seven digs. Ford (four) led a Rutgers-Newark blocking unit that recorded seven total blocks in the match.
 
Rutgers-Newark finished the match with 66 points, 50 kills, nine aces, seven blocks, 48 assists and 64 digs.