The women’s volleyball team celebrated Senior Day on Nov. 4 with two non-conference victories in the Bradley Center against St. Joseph’s University — Long Island (SJLI) and Wilkes University. Their overall record is now 23-1, and they await the start of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) playoffs on Nov. 9.
Ramapo started strong in their first set against SJLI, earning nine points before the Golden Eagles got their first kill from sophomore Luciana D’Ambrosio. From there, SJLI made an impressive recovery and pulled ahead 15-13. Sensing competition, the Roadrunners doubled down and closed the gap and maintained the lead until the end, 25-20.
Ramapo controlled the next two sets, staying ahead for the entirety of both. The Golden Eagles fell 25-13 and 25-14, unable to recreate the turnaround they demonstrated during the first set.
Ramapo’s dominance was obvious as the Roadrunners collected over twice as many kills as the Golden Eagles throughout the match, 40 to 19. Over half came from freshman Maliyah LaBrie and senior Penelope Rivera, who contributed 13 and eight respectively.
The 3-0 victory was also made possible by 21 assists from junior Alexandra Sacchinelli. All together, the Roadrunners’ performances earned them a hitting percentage of .380 compared to SJLI’s .058.
After watching SJLI fall a second time to Wilkes, the Roadrunners returned to the court to face the victor.
The adrenaline from their earlier win carried Ramapo through the first set, 25-14. However, the Roadrunners proceeded to lose steam. The Colonels countered Ramapo’s opening kill from Rivera with a kill from sophomore Ally Sheridan. The set became a brutal back-and-forth, with the widest gap in points stretching 10-6 in Ramapo’s favor before Wilkes closed it and pulled ahead. The set ended 25-22 in the Colonels’ favor.
During the next two sets, they showed off the skills that earned them the No. 2 seed in the NJAC. Focus honed, the Roadrunners committed only a single error during the third set and swiftly pocketed it 25-7.
Both teams reached their boiling points during the fourth set. Wilkes fought valiantly to keep up with Ramapo, but could never pull ahead by more than two points before the Roadrunners swung the game back in their favor. Finally, senior Desiree Cruz proved she was worth celebrating that day by earning the final kill, closing the set 25-20 and winning the match 3-1.
After winding down through post-game stretches with her teammates, Cruz shared her joy over Ramapo’s Senior Day performance in an interview with The Ramapo News. “It feels amazing coming up with my team and my coaches trusting in us… We did really good, so it feels amazing to come here today and execute,” she said.
The team’s 23-1 record is by far the best season in program history. The Roadrunners finished the season undefeated at home, with their only loss coming to No. 1 Stockton University on the road. LaBrie led the team during the season with a team-high 250 kills and 296.5 points. Cruz led the Roadrunners in blocked shots with 21, and led the entire NJAC in hitting percentage at .419.
No. 2 Ramapo will face off against No. 3 Kean University at the Bradley Center with the goal of competing for their first NJAC Championship in program history. In their only regular season matchup, the Roadrunners beat Kean 3-2 (23-25, 25-27, 26-24, 26-24, 15-13) in a home game. The winner will face off against either No. 1 Stockton University or No. 4 William Paterson University (WPU) in the NJAC Championship game on Saturday. Ramapo would visit Stockton, and would host WPU.
dbongiov@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
