NEWARK, N.J. | The Scarlet Raiders women's volleyball season came to a close tonight in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) opening round at the hands of the Bearcats, 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 23-25).

Rutgers University-Newark (17-12) had come into tonight's match with a 3-0 win over Baruch College (19-11) this season. The win was the first-ever ECAC win for the Bearcats.

The Scarlet Raiders were led by Comfort Akinbo who had 16 kills on .200 hitting while Alexa Rivera tallied 13. Karly Gregoire added to her assist total with 40 assists on the night while Brione Lockett tallied 20 digs.

Rutgers University-Newark took the opening set, 25-22, after surviving scoring runs by the Bearcats. The Scarlet Raiders held a 13-7 lead midway through the set but a Bearcat 4-0 run brought them right back in the match. Dahlia Shoukry pushed the Scarlet Raiders' lead out to three, 19-16, with a kill before Yijia Cai answered with a kill of her own.

In the second set, the lead flip-flopped back-and-forth between the teams before Baruch used a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. Analis Capobianco served for the Scarlet Raiders and forced an attacking error to give them another tally and cut the lead down to two.  Akinbo knotted the game at 22 with a kill, however, Baruch would rebound and secure the final three points to tie the match up at one. 

Once again the Scarlet Raiders kept it close until another run by the Bearcats gave them a 23-17 lead. Akinbo attempted to give the Scarlet Raiders some life with a kill to bring them within five but an attacking error put the point in Baruch's column. 

A late push by the Scarlet Raiders nearly put the game into a fifth set, however, Baruch regrouped and closed out the set to even the season series at one and move on in the ECAC Tournament.