NEWARK, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Rutgers-Newark (14-7, 4-2 NJAC) only had six more kills than New Jersey City University (7-14, 0-6 NJAC) but the Scarlet Raiders were able to keep the Gothic Knights at arm's length most of the night, winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) at the Golden Dome Athletic Center on October 11.
 
The Scarlet Raiders tallied 31 kills to the Gothic Knights' 25 and only two more aces but the Gothic Knights were plagued by eight more attack errors than the Raiders (21-13), costing NJCU in some of the closer sets. NJCU led just once in the match.
 
The Gothic Knights did have several plus performances on Thursday night. Junior outside hitter Stephanie Duque (West New York, NJ/Memorial) had six kills, five aces, two blocks, and two digs for a team-leading 12.0 points, freshman outside hitter Yaidettive Vega (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) came off the bench and led the team with eight kills and senior libero Georgina Rayo (Jersey City, NJ/McNair Academic) led the team with a match-high 17 digs. Senior setter Shaylah Ware (Newark, NJ/Science Park) had 22 helpers.
 
For the Scarlet Raiders, it was a two-woman offense, with senior outside hitter Cassie Luken (North Brunswick, N.J.) and freshman right side Sharon Starling (Toms River, N.J.) tallying 23 of the team's 31 kills. The pair combined for 61 of the team's 93 total attacks, as RUN rarely looked to anyone else. Luken finished with a .312 attack and 12 kills (12-2-32) and added 11 digs for a double-double—her second straight and sixth overall in 2018. Starling had 11 kills at a .207 clip (11-5-29). Junior libero Brione Lockett (Elizabeth, N.J.) led the team with 16 digs and setter Karly Gregoire (Linden, N.J.) had 24 assists and seven digs.
 
The first set was competitive to start, with NJCU rolling off a 5-1 run, highlighted by three straight aces from Duque, to pull to within two at 19-17, after a timeout from NJCU head coach Robert Cole, following an 18-12 margin for the hosts. But Rutgers-Newark pulled away at the end, taking six of the final eight points of the game.
 
Rutgers-Newark came out guns a-blazing in the second set, taking an 11-2 lead before NJCU could blink, with four Gothic Knight errors driving the run.
 
The third set was the closest of the bunch, with NJCU making multiple runs to rally. Trailing 15-8 they pulled within 15-13 and down 22-16, NJCU whittled the deficit to 22-20, behind a pair of kills from Vega. But ultimately NJCU never had a lead during the set, and the Scarlet Raiders collected their 14th win of the season.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: Rutgers-Newark leads 38-11.
• Ware has now reached double-digit assists in all 20 of the matches she has appeared in for the 2018 season.
• Rayo reached double-digit digs for the 12th time in 2018 and 27th time in her career.
• Senior outside hitter Amber O'Donnell (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) had 10 digs on the day, the 42nd time in her career reaching double figure digs.
• O'Donnell now has 886 career digs and moved into 12th place in school history. She passed Christina Cocucci (877 digs, 2003-04) and Geovanny Gomez (885 digs, 1996-97) on the career list. Next up is Jacqueline LeBlanc with 901 digs from 2005-08.
• The eight kills for Vega were the third-highest total for her NJCU career.

 
UP NEXT:
The schedule stays busy for NJCU, as they are right back at it Friday evening, traveling to Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. to face off with York College (0-16) for a non-conference match set to get underway at 7:00 p.m.
 
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