ALBANY, N.Y. (September 16, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team traveled upstate Saturday and split a pair of matches at the Sage Invitational hosted by the Sage Colleges. R-N evened its record at 4-4 while Mount Ida College is now 7-5 and the hosts move to 4-10.

The Scarlet Raiders faced off against Mount Ida in their first match, dropping a tough five-setter by scores of 17-25, 25-23, 26-24, 12-25, and 15-11. Senior Morgan Schweitzer and junior Cassie Luken each recorded double-doubles. Schweitzer had a match-high 17 kills in addition to 24 digs while Luken contributed 11 kills and 10 digs. Senior Sue Riley racked up a match-best 25 digs and rookie Karly Gregoire had a match-high 40 assists.

Later in the afternoon, Rutgers-Newark rebounded with a sweep of the hosts by scores of 25-17, 25-17, and 25-22. Luken powered the visitors with a match-best 15 kills and four aces while Schweitzer joined her in double-digits with 11 kills. Riley racked up a match-high 18 digs and Gregoire guided the offense with a match-high 28 assists. 

Mount Ida 3, Rutgers-Newark 2
In the first set, the Scarlet Raiders had a slim 10-9 edge before a 10-0 surge featuring a quartet of aces and a kill from Schweitzer created some distance. R-N would hold on for a 25-17 win, closed out by a spike from freshman Dahlia Shoukry.

The second set saw neither side able to pull away as the largest lead was just five points. The game went down to the wire as the Scarlet Raiders came within one point, 24-23, but Mount Ida was able to even the match at 1-1.

The Mustangs continued the momentum in the third set and again were able to eke out a narrow 26-24 victory in a back-and-forth affair.

The fourth set was dominated end-to-end by Rutgers-Newark as it opened up a 13-5 advantage. The Scarlet Raiders would not look back en route to a 25-12 rout and an even 2-2 score for the match.

In the penultimate game, Mount Ida took an early 7-2 lead and expanded its edge to multiple match points, ahead 14-8. Still, R-N fought back with three consecutive points including a pair of kills from Luken. Unfortunately that wouldn't be enough as the Mustangs earned their match point, winning the set 15-11 and the contest overall 3-2.

Rutgers-Newark 3, Sage 0
The Scarlet Raiders rebounded quickly from their earlier match with another strong start against the hosts. R-N sported a fantastic .333 attack percentage in the first set, racking up 13 kills on its way to a 25-17 win and 1-0 lead.

In a more tightly contested second set, the two sides were within three points as the Scarlet Raiders maintained a 17-14 edge. However, the visitors pulled away from there, winning seven of the next eight points on the strength of a pair of aces and a kill from Luken. Gregoire would close out the set with an ace of her own to take the game by an identical 25-17 score.

The third game saw Rutgers-Newark come out red hot as it won 15 of the first 18 points powered by six kills and an ace from Luken. Still, Sage would not go down without a fight, rallying all the way back to within one point at 23-22. However, the home team came up short and the Scarlet Raiders took the final two points to win the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.

Rutgers-Newark returns to New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) action on Tuesday night when it heads to NJCU for a 7 p.m. contest.