CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 22, 2022) – The difference between the Rutgers University-Camden and Ramapo College volleyball teams was ever so slight in their New Jersey Athletic Conference match here Thursday night. Yet after a marathon two hours of action, it was the Scarlet Raptors who survived with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Roadrunners.
 
Rutgers-Camden won by scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-17, 18-25 and 16-14.
 
Rutgers-Camden, which has won its last four matches, evened its record at 5-5 overall and hiked its NJAC mark to 2-1. Ramapo fell to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in the NJAC.
 
The win marked the second straight year Rutgers-Camden beat Ramapo after the Roadrunners had won the previous seven matches.
 
In the decisive fifth set, with the score tied, 14-14, a Ramapo attack error helped Rutgers-Camden surge ahead, 15-14. The Raptors wrapped up the set and the match on a kill by junior Erica Nebrich, assisted by senior Brinn Hassan.  
 
In the opening set, the Scarlet Raptors stormed back from an 18-13 deficit, passed the Roadrunners at 23-22 on a kill by junior Isabella Choice, assisted by senior Haley Novak, and wrapped up the victory on a kill by Nebrich.
 
The Roadrunners reversed the script in the second set, overcoming an 11-8 deficit to take the lead for good on a kill by sophomore Amanda Fatouh. Although the Scarlet Raptors kept it close, Ramapo clinched the set on a Rutgers-Camden attack error.
 
Leading, 11-10, in the third set, the Scarlet Raptors ran off the next seven points on the way to a 25-17 victory. The Roadrunners set up the fifth set by taking a 25-19 decision in the fourth set. They led almost all the way, from 2-1 until the final score.
 
Nebrich finished with 15 kills for the Scarlet Raptors, while Choice had 13. Sophomore Kaitlyn Parrish and junior Dyamond Free notched 12 kills apiece. The Raptors finished with 62 kills and 189 attack attempts.
 
Hassan delivered 47 assists, tied for the sixth-highest five-match total in program history. Novak ripped off six service aces and added 14 digs. Senior Morgan Fox collected 20 digs, while Nebrich added 12 and freshman Bella Craig had 10. Parrish led the way with five blocks, four of them assisted.
 
Junior Caleigh Golabek led Ramapo with 15 kills and a .520 hitting percentage.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to NJAC action Thursday with a 7 p.m. home match against Ramapo College.