NEWARK, NJ — In an opening round match of the ECAC DIII Metro/Upstate Volleyball Championship at the Golden Dome on the Rutgers-Newark campus, The College of New Rochelle dropped a 3-0 decision to the Scarlet Knights.
The Blue Angels end their season with a 25-8 record. CNR’s ECAC berth was the first for the program, which has rewritten the team record books the last two seasons, breaking nearly every team and individual record over two seasons that saw the team compile a 46-19 record and secure two HVIAC Tournament Championships and this season’s regular season championship.
Senior Meghan King (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) closed out her storied collegiate career with a team-high nine kills. Her final career kill total of 967 is a program record. Fabiola Padilla Rios (San Juan, PR/University Gardens) added six kills and a team-high 18 digs, while Melanie Lopez Soto (Gurabo, PR/Notre Dame) chipped in with five kills and a team-high 10 assists.
Sharee Gordon led the Scarlet Raiders with a match-high 11 kills.
In the opening set, the teams exchanged 4-1 runs to begin the match, leaving the score at 5-5 in the early going. With the score still tied at 7-7, Rutgers-Newark used a 6-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. CNR responded in kind, fashioning an 8-1 run of its own to take a 15-14 lead. The score was again tied at 20-20 before the Scarlet Raiders closed out the set with a 5-0 run to grab the 1-0 lead.
Rutgers-Newark grabbed the lead at the beginning of the second set, and led by as many as five before the Blue Angels used a 7-2 run to turn a 12-7 deficit into a 14-14 tie. The Scarlet Raiders responded with a 6-1 run to take a 20-15 lead en route to a 25-17 win.
CNR scored the first two points of the final set, before Rutgers-Newark scored five straight points to take a 5-2 lead and gradually increased its lead, taking the set, 25-12 and the match, 3-0.