CAMDEN, N.J. (September 11, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team opened its New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) schedule with a bang Tuesday night, earning a 3-1 road win at rival Rutgers University-Camden.
 
With the 3-1 win, Rutgers-Newark improves to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. The Scarlet Raiders will return to action Thursday and Friday in Newark, hosting non-conference foes Sarah Lawrence and New England College in The Golden Dome. Opening serve is slated for 7 p.m. both nights. Rutgers-Camden drops to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the NJAC.
 
Tuesday night's set scores were 25-14, 16-25, 25-22 and 25-15.

"We really worked well together as a team," said Head Coach Megan Knott after the win. "We struggled with our serve-receive to start, but our hitters picked us up and found ways to score off mixed sets. I was really happy with our hustle and fight throughout the match, and the ladies did a nice job executing the game plan and serving aggressively."
 
The Scarlet Raiders were led by senior Cassie Luken and junior Comfort Akinbo who recorded a lofty 17 kills apiece, hitting .310 and .283, respectively. As a team, Rutgers-Newark hit .210, racking up 53 points via 46 kills, three aces and four blocks. The Scarlet Raiders registered 41 assists and an excellent 63 digs, holding R-C to a .126 hitting percentage.
 
Luken and sophomore Dahlia Shoukry each had two blocks, while sophomore setter Karly Gregoire dished out 38 assists. Junior Brione Lockett lifted a team-best 15 digs, with Luken (11) and Gregoire (10) picking up double-digit digs for double-doubles.
 
Rutgers-Newark scored 6-of-9 to start the match, coming out of the gate strong despite the long trip to Camden. A 4-0 rally later in the set allowed Rutgers-Newark to take a 19-12 lead, with a kill from Luken clinching the 1-0 lead.
 
Camden ended the second set with nine of the final 12 tallies to tie the match at one, but Rutgers-Newark used a 11-4 run midway through the third frame to regain the momentum. Luken put down three winners in the rally, and despite a feisty Raptor squad clawing back, a hammer from Luken and a Camden error gave the Scarlet Raiders a 2-1 lead.
 
In the fourth and final set, Rutgers-Newark took an early 7-3 lead and the guests extended to a seven-point margin after back-to-back Luken kills and a Camden error (15-8). Camden called a timeout to try and slow the Scarlet Raider momentum, but out of the break Rutgers-Newark scored three in a row with an ace from Gregoire giving the Raiders an insurmountable 18-8 lead. Akinbo came through with a spike to give the Scarlet Raiders set point, and a combo-block from Luken and Shoukry clinched the NJAC triumph.
 
Shoukry, freshman Sharon Starling and junior Epiphani Woodard all had multiple kills, and six Scarlet Raiders had six digs or more – Lockett, Luken, Gregoire, junior Analis Capobianco (nine), Akinbo (seven) and Starling (six).
 
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