THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (September 15, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team improved to 8-2 on the season with a pair of victories Saturday in a tri-match hosted by SUNY Maritime.
R-N rolled to a 3-0 sweep over the host Privateers (2-1) to start the day, and the Scarlet Raiders overcame a 1-0 deficit to top Baruch College (4-7) in the nightcap, 3-1.
Rutgers-Newark has now won six-straight matches overall, and the Scarlet Raiders have come out on top in 18 of their last 20 sets. R-N will return to action Thursday night in The Golden Dome when New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Ramapo College comes to town. Opening serve is slated for 7 p.m.
Rutgers-Newark 3, Maritime 0 (25-21, 25-13, 26-24)
In the opener, Rutgers-Newark picked up its fifth-straight triumph, sweeping the host Privateers. Junior
Comfort Akinbo led the hitters, putting down 17 kills, while senior
Cassie Luken tallied 10. Freshman
Sharon Starling placed a lofty seven aces, and both
Analis Capobianco and Luken delivered a trio of aces. Sophomore setter
Karly Gregoire averaged more than 10 assists per set, tallying 32 for the match, and junior libero
Brione Lockett had a team-high 14 digs.
Rutgers-Newark hit a strong .244, and the Scarlet Raider defense held Maritime to a .069 hitting percentage. R-N racked up a total of 35 kills, 15 aces and two blocks for 52 points, registering 34 assists and 30 digs.
A back-and-forth first set came down to the wire, with Rutgers-Newark scoring four of the final five tallies to take the lead. In the second, the Raiders ripped off five-straight to start, and after Maritime rallied, a 6-0 run all-but locked up the 2-0 lead. Rutgers-Newark again raced out of the gate in the third set, tallying 8-of-9, but the hosts came back to tie the score at 11 and they eventually were able to take a 15-13 lead. Rutgers-Newark responded, getting two Akinbo kills and an ace from Starling to go back on top (18-16), and the Raiders were able to do enough down the stretch to secure the sweep. The final two tallies came from Luken who put away two sets from Gregoire.
Rutgers-Newark 3, Baruch 1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17)
Rutgers-Newark dropped the first set in the nightcap, but responded with a trio of convincing wins to move to 8-2 on the year
Baruch took the first stanza 25-22, using a 6-1 spurt in the middle of the set to turn a 12-11 score to 18-12. Newark responded with an excellent second frame, scoring 9-of-10 to start and closing it out with a kill from Luken.
The all-important third set saw Rutgers-Newark continue to roll, doubling up the Bearcats 10-5 after 15 points. The lead swelled to 12 as the Scarlet Raiders ripped off nine of the next 11 scores (19-7), cruising the rest of the way to a 2-1 lead.
The Bearcats jumped in front 7-3 early in the fourth, but Rutgers-Newark quickly answered, taking an 8-7 lead after a block from junior
Epiphani Woodard. The two teams traded points before the Scarlet Raiders went on a 5-1 run to open an 18-13 advantage, and after Baruch trimmed the Newark lead to two (18-16), the Scarlet Raiders ripped off seven of the next eight points to lock up the win. Luken and Akinbo put down winners for the final two points.
Luken led the way with 18 kills, nine digs and four aces, with Akinbo putting down 16 winners. Starling had seven kills and three aces, with Woodard recording a team-high five rejections. Gregoire handed out 37 assists, and Lockett lifted an excellent 26 digs. Capobianco had 11 digs as the Scarlet Raiders totaled 63 digs as a unit, hitting .208 overall with 44 kills, 12 aces and nine denials. Baruch hit just .042 with 29 kills, nine aces and five blocks.
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