Ramapo College Women’s Volleyball extends undefeated record to 12-0

The Ramapo College Women's Volleyball team(12-0, 3-0 NJAC) continued their historic undefeated start to the 2023 season by fending off the Rutgers-Camden Scarlet Raptors(7-7., 1-2 NJAC) in a hard-fought four-set victory at the Bradley Center on the campus of Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Here @RamapoCollegeNJ #Mahwah #NewJersey covering undefeated @RCNJWVB 11-0 vs. #RutgersCamden @RUC_Raptors for @JSNSPORTINGNEWS 🏐 pic.twitter.com/3ROYUNWdWD

— Player Video Interviews By Sunil (@SunilSunderRaj3) September 28, 2023

Rutgers-Camden did not resemble a team one game above .500 in the first set. With the score tied at 9-9, the Scarlet Raptors displayed a lot of grit, rattling off five consecutive points in a row.

Ramapo College answered by recording five straight points to cut into the Rutgers-Camden lead 17-15. The Roadrunners managed to tie the score at 23-23, but the Scarlet Raptors notched the final two points to take the set 25-23.

#RutgersCamden @RUC_Raptors wins the first set against @RCNJWVB 25-23 @JSNSPORTINGNEWS 🏐 pic.twitter.com/awI8IGOu2M

— Player Video Interviews By Sunil (@SunilSunderRaj3) September 28, 2023

"The first set, we came out with many service line errors," Ramapo College head coach Fernando Colon explained. "We called a timeout and spoke about it. Towards the end of the set, it did get better, but we were down by many points."

"We know that in our conference the games matter more and are competitive and on a given night anyone can beat another team."

Ramapo College blasted out of the gates in the second set, roaring to a 10-4 lead. Once again, Rutgers-Camden showed somefeistiness, narrowing the gap to 12-10. The Roadrunners responded by outscoring the Scarlet Raptors 13-3 to win the set 25-13.

@RCNJWVB roars back to win the second set 25-13 against #RutgersCamden @RUC_Raptors @JSNSPORTINGNEWS 🏐 pic.twitter.com/lgpzPXzJ2z

— Player Video Interviews By Sunil (@SunilSunderRaj3) September 28, 2023

Once the third set commenced, the Ramapo College offense erupted, winning the first nine points. Rutgers-Camden ignited a rebuttal, tallying the next eight out of 10 points to reduce the margin to 11-8.

The Roadrunners countered that run, chalking up the next seven out of eight points to boost their advantage to 18-9. Ramapo College, not stepping off the gas pedal, wrapped up the third set 25-13.

@RCNJWVB cruises to a 25-13 third set win over #RutgersCamden @RUC_Raptors Roadrunners up 2-1 @JSNSPORTINGNEWS 🏐 pic.twitter.com/jl2ofI1XN2

— Player Video Interviews By Sunil (@SunilSunderRaj3) September 29, 2023

"We jumped on them in the second and third sets and came on strong, had fewer unforced errors, and came out with more energy," Colon described.

The Scarlet Raptors regained their composure in the fourth set by jumping to a 7-2 lead. However, the Roadrunners found their rhythm and tied the score at 10-10. After Rutgers-Camden went back up 12-11, Ramapo College recorded four consecutive points.

The Roadrunners led 19-14 but still could not shake off the valiant effort of the Scarlet Raptors as they sliced the margin down to 19-18. Eventually, Ramapo College, relying on solid serving, closed the match, registering the next six out of eight points to win 25-20.

Colon on the win, "We're having a good time and what I'm trying to get across and taking it one game at a time. Our goal is to be playing in the playoffs, but we still have a lot of things to improve on."

"We love playing here (Bradley Center), and as each game goes by, we're getting more fans, and the girls feed off that and want to perform well."

#JerseySportingNews @JSNSPORTINGNEWS post-game video interview with @RCNJWVB Head Coach #FernandoColon tonight @RamapoCollegeNJ #BradleyCenter #Mahwah #NewJersey 🏐 pic.twitter.com/Xf07iGZ1qj

— Player Video Interviews By Sunil (@SunilSunderRaj3) September 29, 2023

Freshman outside hitter Maliyah LaBrie led the Roadrunners in kills with 19, sophomore setter Cleopatra Diakou registered 26 assists, and junior libero Krystal Santiago Oquendo recorded 13 assists.

"We're a team that offensively has a lot of weapons, and one of our strengths we work on in practice is serving aggressively and getting out of the system so that the players can run our offense," Colon noted.

Ramapo College returns to action on Tuesday, October 10th, with an away match against Stockton University, with match time set for 7:00 p.m.

"We have about a 10-day gap in our schedule and are trying to find games, but if not, we're going to sit back and watch film, work on some stuff in practice, and come back and play on October 10th."