The time has officially come for the men’s volleyball team to say goodbye to the 2025 season. The Roadrunners put up a great run, but a loss against Rutgers-Newark in the ECAC Championship Tournament Semifinal has closed out this chapter for the Roadrunners.
The No. 4 seed Roadrunners fell to the No. 1 seed Scarlet Raiders 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) on Saturday in Newark, but put up a good fight to close out a successful season.
Reece Kirchofer, Jan Tracz and Brady Cascone led the Roadrunners in kills, tallying 11, nine and three respectively throughout the three sets. The team collectively hit 27 kills on 82 attempts. Kirchofer also led the team in blocks, closing out the match with three, followed by two from Tracz and one from JoJo Meyer.
Kirchofer had a stellar final season with the Roadrunners, culminating in being named to the 2025 ECAC all-tournament team.
Meyer dominated in assists, bringing in 24 of a total 25 for the Roadrunners in his final game. Sophomore Sean McNally dominated defensively for the Roadrunners, adding eight digs to Kirchofer’s five and Cascone’s three.
On the other side of the net, Michael Suarez led the Scarlet Raiders in kills with a total of 11, followed by Vincent Lopez and Massimo Roco, each contributing seven for a total of 42 kills for the match. Derek Au led in both assists and digs for Rutgers-Newark, with 32 and nine respectively.
Though the Scarlet Knights clinched the win, the Roadrunners did not back down easy. In the first set, Ramapo stayed close to Rutgers-Newark, even tying the score up at 12 following an attack error from the Scarlet Raiders’ Lopez and then again at 14 thanks to a service ace from Kirchofer.
The Scarlet Raiders kept a larger advantage against the Roadrunners in the second set in Newark, ending with 25 to Ramapo’s 20. Rutgers-Newark was able to keep up the momentum, taking the win in the final set 25-21, sending them into the second match of ECAC championship against New Jersey City University, where they ultimately took the championship title.
Ramapo put up a .171 hitting percentage in their final game at The Golden Dome, with an overall percentage of .778 for the season.
While this may not have been the ideal way to close out the season, the Roadrunners accomplished an impressive 19-11 overall record and a 14-4 record in the Skyline Conference.
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @Katierygielgraphics, Instagram
