WAYNE, N.J. (Sept. 20, 2022) – It took a big comeback, some tense moments and five sets, but the Rutgers University-Camden volleyball team outlasted William Paterson University, 3-2, here Tuesday night for its first New Jersey Athletic Conference win of the season.
The Scarlet Raptors won 21-25, 25-21, 14-25, 25-23 and 15-7.
Rutgers-Camden, which has won its last three matches, improved to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the NJAC. William Paterson fell to 4-6 and 0-2 with its fifth straight loss.
The Scarlet Raptors have won their last four matches and seven of their last eight in their NJAC series with Paterson. This one, however, wasn't easy.
In the opening set, Rutgers-Camden took an 11-5 lead before Paterson rallied and finally took the lead at 13-12 on a Raptor attack error. The Pioneers stretched their lead to 20-14 before the Scarlet Raptors rallied to make it a two-point set at 23-21. Paterson closed out the set with a kill by freshman Erica Bickart and a Raptor attack error.
In a tight second set, Rutgers-Camden grabbed a 15-14 lead on a Paterson service error and expanded its lead to 22-16 on several Pioneer errors, two kills by Raptor junior
Kaitlyn Parrish and one kill apiece by junior
Erica Nebrich and freshman
Ciera McCrae. Although the Pioneers cut their deficit to 24-21, a Paterson service error wrapped up the victory for the Scarlet Raptors. Two of the Raptors' last three points came on kills by McCrae and junior
Isabella Choice.
Paterson took the lead early, at 2-1, in the third set and the Scarlet Raptors never caught up on the way to the Pioneers' 25-14 victory.
Rutgers-Camden turned the tables in the fourth set, breaking open a 5-5 tie by scoring 14 of the next 19 points. Parrish's kill made the score 6-5 for the Raptors and they rolled up a 19-8 lead before Paterson made a strong comeback. The Pioneers cut the gap to 24-23 before Rutgers-Camden closed out the victory with a kill by McCrae.
In the decisive fifth set, with the score tied 4-4, Rutgers-Camden went on an 11-3 run to wrap up the set and the match, 15-7. The final point came on a kill by Nebrich, who had five kills in the set, while Choice added three kills.
For the match, Choice had 15 kills, hit .407 and added three blocks, while Nebrich collected 13 kills and 18 digs. Free notched 11 kills and Parrish added 10, while hitting .350.
Senior
Brinn Hassan delivered 35 assists and nine digs in her 100th career match, while adding two service aces. Seniors
Morgan Fox and
Haley Novak added 14 and 12 digs, respectively. Freshmen
Bella Craig, Sophia LaPorta and McCrae each added six digs, with McCrae adding 10 assists and four kills.
For Paterson, freshman Abigail Hayth notched 18 kills, junior Eliana Lamb had 17 kills and freshman Alexa Jarvis notched 49 assists. Hayth added four aces and 15 digs.
The Scarlet Raptors return to NJAC action Thursday with a 7 p.m. home match against Ramapo College.
