NEWARK, N.J. (October 23, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team was defeated tonight in The Golden Dome by visiting New Jersey Athletic Conference opponent Rowan University, 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-15). The Scarlet Raiders fall to 15-10 (4-4 NJAC) while the Profs improve to 17-13 (6-2 NJAC) in both teams' league finale.

Rookie Sharon Starling led Rutgers-Newark with 11 kills while senior Cassie Luken chipped in eight. Junior Brione Lockett had a team-best 16 digs and sophomore Karly Gregoire contributed a double-double of 22 assists and 14 digs. Starling and sophomore Dahlia Shoukry each racked up three service aces.

The Raiders are officially locked in to the no. 5 seed for the upcoming NJAC Championship Tournament, returning to the postseason after a one-year hiatus, and will face Montclair State on the road next Tuesday night.

R-N closes out its 2018 regular season campaign on Thursday when the College of Saint Elizabeth comes to the Brick City for Senior Night at 7 p.m.

Rowan 25, Rutgers-Newark 22
In a very tight first set, the visiting Profs wound up gaining the upperhand in a stanza that featured five ties and five lead changes.

Rowan raced out to a 13-5 lead but the Raiders came storming back, going on a 12-4 surge that deadlocked the game at 17-17. Starling featured heavily in that run with two kills and three big aces.

Still, the Profs were able to regain a slim 22-19 edge and although the hosts drew within one, the visitors held on for the set victory.

Rowan 25, Rutgers-Newark 20
Rowan had another fast start to the second game, taking an early 11-5 lead that forced a timeout from Rutgers-Newark.

The Scarlet Raiders found their way back again, embarking on a 10-4 spurt that featured a trio of kills from Luken and a pair of winners by Starling and junior Comfort Akinbo to knot the set at 15-15.

Although Newark also had the game tied at 16-16, that would be the last deadlock of the set. The Profs rattled off six consecutive points to take a 22-16 lead and withstood a Raider rally led by a kill and ace from Shoukry to take the stanza 25-20.

Rowan 25, Rutgers-Newark 15
The third set followed a similar pattern to the previous two as Rowan once again opened the game with a strong run, this time claiming an early 9-2 lead.

R-N clawed its way right back into the stanza, going on a 7-2 surge to draw within 11-9 led by a pair of Luken winners and two aces from junior Analis Capobianco.

The Profs attempted to pull away while gaining a 15-10 edge but a pair of Shoukry aces helped keep the Scarlet Raiders within two at 15-13.

Unfortunately, Rowan would eventually create a significant advantage, going on a 10-2 run to close the set and take the match 3-0.