Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
It’s safe to say that the Ramapo College women’s volleyball team had a successful afternoon on Saturday, Oct. 26. The Roadrunners collected two wins for the day over Brooklyn College, 3-0, and York College, 3-0, at the tri-match that they hosted at the Bradley Center. As a result of the double victories, Ramapo’s overall record improved to 12-4.
In the first match, the Roadrunners faced the Bulldogs of Brooklyn College, and they beat them with a 3-0 total, but it was a close call match: 25-15, 25-23, 25-20.
The first set was only a one point game until senior Morgan Ridgway stepped it up and started firing volleys to earn her team five consecutive points. With this, the score jumped from 7-6 to 12-6. From there, Brooklyn was not able to catch up, the biggest deficit being 11 to Ramapo’s advantage. By the time the Roadrunners hit 25, the Bulldogs had only recorded 15 points.
The second set was even more intense, with Ramapo only snagging the win at the very end. The set was neck and neck for the duration as the Roadrunners were seen trailing by six about halfway through, and then eventually leading to the final two plays where the score was knotted at 23-23. After one error by Brooklyn and a kill by freshman Stephanie Ross, Ramapo collected a win for the second period of the match, 25-23.
Of course, the third set proved to be challenging too, but the Roadrunners still managed to come out on top. They held the lead the entire set, although sometimes only by one single point. Junior Hannah Frascella tallied the 25th point with a kill off an assist from setter Kate Shirkey, leaving BC with only 20 points.
For the match, Ridgway led the offense collecting a team high of 11 kills, while also tallying ten digs, four blocks and two aces. Senior Felicia Jimenez dished out ten kills and three aces. Shirkey held the team high for assists at 16, while libero Karina Almeda added a team high 19 digs on defense.
In the second game of the tri-match, the Roadrunners defeated the Cardinals of York College in a much faster match, 25-4, 25-8, 25-7. The second set was the closest, with Ramapo still leading by a massive 17 points after the 25 points were secured. This face off against York proved to be the easier of the two matches for the day.
The title of team leader in game two went to freshman Desi Brower who put out 12 kills on 19 attempts. Freshman Geri Andrea and Ross both contributed five kills each, while Andrea also recorded one ace and one block. Shirkey led the team with assists again, collecting 15 for the game, and Almeda was also reliable for another 14 digs in game two of the day.
For game two, the Roadrunners recorded 32 kills to York’s seven, and 21 aces while York wasn’t able to steal any aces. Ramapo only demonstrated five errors.
The women’s volleyball team played again on Tuesday night where they were defeated by William Paterson University in their final NJAC match of the season. The team’s NJAC record now stands at 3-5.
Luckily for Ramapo, the team earned the #5 seed and a bid to the 2019 NJAC Championship Tournament for the 14th time under head coach Robert Pichardo. The Roadrunners will travel to Montclair State University on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to compete in the first round of the tournament.
Before all that action begins next week, the women’s volleyball team is scheduled to wrap up their regular season when they host their final tri-match on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. The Roadrunners will take on the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 11 a.m. and Lehman College at 3 p.m.
ksutphin@ramapo.edu
