CAMDEN, N.J. (Oct. 10, 2024) – The Rutgers University-Camden and Gwynedd Mercy University volleyball teams battled through four tight sets here Thursday night, but in the decisive fifth set everything fell apart for the Scarlet Raptors.
Gwynedd Mercy captured a 15-3 victory in the final set to take a 3-2 match victory, raising its record to 11-6. Rutgers-Camden fell to 5-14 with its fifth loss in the last six matches. Two of the last four defeats have come in five sets.
The Griffins won the match by scores of 17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 and 15-3.
In the opening set, the Raptors rattled off an eight-point run, turning a 7-5 deficit into a 13-7 lead on the way to a 25-17 victory. Consecutive kills by senior
Kaitlyn Parrish, sophomore
JoAnna Andrews, freshman
Gabby Gbolahan, Andrews and Gbolahan again gave the Raptors a 10-7 lead before a Gwynedd Mercy attack error, a kill by freshman
Maria Theruviparambil and another kill by Gbolahan made it 13-7. For the set, Gbolahan had four kills and Andrews added three, while sophomore
Sofia Granieri had seven digs. Andrews and junior
Avery Ang had four assists apiece.
The Raptors trailed, 21-13, in the second set before a big rally tied the score at 23-23. Parrish had two kills in the run, while Granieri, Theruviparambil and Gbolahan had one apiece. After roaring all the way back, however, a pair of Raptor attack errors gave the Griffins a 25-23 win.
Clinging to a 24-23 lead in the third set, the Scarlet Raptors wrapped up the win on a kill by Gbolahan, assisted by Ang.
The Griffins bounced back in the fourth set, taking the lead for good at 3-2 on a kill by sophomore Kate Etter. They ended up winning, 25-16, to force the final set.
In the final set, the Raptors took an early 2-1 lead, but the Griffins roared back to score the next 13 points, taking a 14-2 lead on the way to their 15-3 clincher.
Etter led Gwynedd Mercy with 26 kills and 16 digs, while hitting .422. Fifth-year player Bria Purnell notched 21 kills, while junior Ayanna Gaston had 58 assists.
Rutgers-Camden received 17 kills, four digs, two block assists and two aces from Gbolahan, who hit a lofty .517. Parrish and Theruviparambil added eight kills apiece, while Ang and Andrews both dished off 17 assists. Granieri collected 18 digs and six kills, while sophomore libero
Mia Owens had 12 digs.
Ang's 17 assists pushed her career total over the 900 milestone. She now owns 907 career assists between her two years at Rutgers-Camden and her freshman season at Medaille University.
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Tuesday with a 7 p.m. New Jersey Athletic Conference match at New Jersey City University.
