The RCNJ women’s volleyball team extended their winning streak on Sept. 28 to 12 straight to start the season with a 3-1 victory over Rutgers University-Camden (RUC) in the Bradley Center.
Highlights of their performance Thursday include 54 kills and a whopping hitting percentage of .230. Their opponents managed 26 kills and a percentage of .076, leaving a gap that highlights the Roadrunners’ skill.
The first set started with a service error by setter Alexandra Sacchinelli in RUC’s favor. Outside hitter Maliyah LaBrie made up for the mistake with a kill for Ramapo, but then unbalanced the score in RUC’s favor with an error of her own.
Each time an error occurred, they followed it with a burst of concentrated effort to stay ahead on the scorecard.
This rocky beginning led into a messy back-and-forth throughout the set. RUC began to flag at the end, with attack errors from senior Isabella Choice and freshman Sofia Granieri, bringing the score to 23-23. Then, the Scarlet Raptors got a second wind under their wings, scoring two kills in a row from Choice and senior Erica Nebrich, wrapping up the set and placing it in RUC’s pocket, 25-23.
After subbing in setter Katie Bishop, the Roadrunners returned to the court with a vengeance. A kill from outside hitter Kalme Moncavo opened the set, and from there the team was out for blood. Moncavo contributed another three kills, and LaBrie was on fire with six. Desiree Cruz and Karolina Rodriguez raised the set’s total to 13, over twice as many as RUC managed.
Ramapo’s powerhouse offensive performance, paired with eight errors from RUC, allowed the Roadrunners to dominate the set, taking it 25-14.
Ramapo carried the same energy into the third set, earning nine points in a row without giving RUC a chance to breathe. The first point for the Scarlet Raptors was a service error from setter Cleopatra Diakou, but this stumble did not keep the Roadrunners down for long.
Diakou found redemption at the end of the set, contributing a service ace and setting up a kill from Moncavo that swung the game in Ramapo’s favor, 25-13.
RUC recovered in time to put up a fight in the fourth set, and it was the Roadrunners’ turn to trip over their own feet. Ramapo made six errors, three times as many as RUC.
Each time an error occurred, they followed it with a burst of concentrated effort to stay ahead on the scorecard. This pattern continued to the very end, when a service error from Bishop was followed by three kills from LaBrie, Moncavo and Rodriguez, closing the set 25-20 and securing Ramapo’s victory.
Incredible overall performances on Ramapo’s side included 19 kills from LaBrie and 26 assists from Diakou. For the Scarlet Raptors, Nebrich stood out with nine kills and freshman Joanna Andrews contributed 13 assists.
RUC now has an overall record of 7-7 and a conference record of 1-2. For Ramapo, this marks their third conference win and 12th victory in a row. They show no sign of slowing down, so if you want to see their talent in action, consider attending their next game in Galloway on Oct. 10 against Stockton University.
dbongiov@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Amalie Hindash
