UNION, N.J. (Oct. 3, 2024) – The Rutgers University-Camden volleyball team headed into Kean University here Thursday night owning a 2-0 record in the New Jersey Athletic Conference for the first time in its program history.
 
The Cougars put an end to that perfect conference start as they swept the Scarlet Raptors, 3-0, by scores of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-18.
 
The loss drops Rutgers-Camden to 5-12 overall and 2-1 in NJAC play. Kean improves to 9-8 and 1-1.
 
The Cougars have now won their last 16 matches against Rutgers-Camden, dating back to the last Scarlet Raptor win on Oct. 9, 2012 in Union by a 3-2 margin.
 
In the first set, Kean went on a nine-point run to overcome an 8-7 deficit and went on to post a 25-14 win. Junior setter Aspen O'Brien had an assist and three service aces during the run and finished the set with 13 assists. For Rutgers-Camden, sophomore libero Mia Owens had seven digs.
 
The Cougars took a 5-4 lead in the second set on a Raptor attack error, triggering a six-point run that lifted Kean to a 10-5 lead. The Cougars went on to win, 25-20.
 
A kill by senior right side Julia Vacca broke a 3-3 tie in the third set and put Kean ahead to stay on the way to a 25-18 victory.
 
O'Brien finished with 36 assists for the Cougars, while junior outside hitter outside hitter Alison Kowalewski had 11 kills and sophomore middle hitter Cayley Elena Morrison added 10 kills.
 
Rutgers-Camden received six kills from sophomore outside hitter/right side Sofia Granieri, while freshman middle blocker Gabby Gbolahan had five kills and freshman outside hitter/right side Maria Theruviparambil added four.
 
Junior setter Avery Ang and sophomore setter JoAnna Andrews collected eight and six assists, respectively.
 
Owens finished with 11 digs, while Granieri added eight and Ang had six. Senior middle hitter/right side Kaitlyn Parrish led the team with three block assists, while junior defensive specialist/libero Sophia LaPorta had a team-high two service aces and added four digs and one kill.
 
Rutgers-Camden is idle until Tuesday, Oct. 8, when it hosts Montclair State University in another NJAC match at 7 p.m.