LANGHORNE, Pa. (September 29, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's volleyball team completed a flawless bounce-back weekend with a 3-1 win over Cairn University Saturday morning.
 
With the win, Rutgers-Newark improves to 12-4 overall and will return to the court Tuesday night in the Golden Dome with a matchup against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival Stockton University. Opening serve is 7 p.m. Cairn drops to 4-11 overall.

Saturday's set scores were 20-25, 25-18, 25-13 and 25-16 as Rutgers-Newark was able to put together a dominating final three sets after a slow start.
 
Sophomore Karly Gregoire handed out 40 assists to facilitate the offense, while four Raiders eclipsed double figures in the dig department in junior Brione Lockett (26), freshman Sharon Starling (13), junior Analis Capobianco (12) and senior Cassie Luken. Luken put down and excellent 23 kills for a double-double, hitting an efficient .273, while Starling tallied 13 spikes for a double-double of her own. Freshman Julia Farkas tallied three kills and a team-high two blocks, while junior Analis Capobianco notched an excellent five aces to go with her solid defense.
 
The Scarlet Raiders struggled out of the gate after a very quick turnaround from a Friday night match at Delaware Valley College, dropping the first set 25-20. However, R-N quickly rebounded with a strong second frame to tie the match 1-1. After splitting the first 16 points evenly, the Scarlet Raiders went on a 10-4 run to open an 18-12 lead, getting multiple kills from Starling and Luken as well as two aces from Gregoire. Newark cruised from there, using a Luken kill to seal the second-set victory.
 
Tied 2-2 early in the third, the guests continued to play well, erupting on a dominant 17-6 run to take a 19-8 lead and force a Highlander timeout. Luken and Starling once again led the hitters in the rally, and both Lockett and Capobianco delivered aces. After the TO, R-N was able to roll to the 25-13 triumph for a 2-1 lead.
 
Cairn jumped out in front to open the fourth and final set, taking a 4-1 lead, but Rutgers-Newark quickly rallied with a beautiful 11-0 run. Sophomore Dahlia Shoukry did the serving, pocketing all three of her aces, and the Highlanders could not recover. R-N eventually closed things out with four of the final five scores, getting back-to-back Capobianco aces to bring up match point and a Luken winner to clinch it.
 
After starting the year 2-2, Rutgers-Newark has won 10-of-12 to get to 12-4 and is currently 2-1 in the all-important NJAC standings heading into Tuesday's match with Stockton.
 
Some Numbers:
3rd: The double-double for Luken was her third of the season, and her 23 kills were a season-high.
1st: Starling pocketed the first double-double of her career, lifting a career-high 13 digs for a second consecutive outing.
40: Gregoire picked up 40 or more assists for the second time this season.