NEWARK, N.J. – The Albright Lions women's volleyball team suffered a tough 3-2 (25-20, 25-27, 25-18, 15-25, 13-15) to Rutgers-Newark on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
With the loss, the Lions fall to 5-7 overall. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Raiders improve to 5-11 overall.
Senior
Brooke Franklin led the Lions with a team-high nine kills and a .471 hitting percentage. First-year
Rhianna Betley posted eight kills and two blocks while senior
Bryana Chambers added seven kills and two blocks. First-year
Paola Mejias paced the Lions offense with 27 assists and added 20 digs along with seven kills. Senior
Kaitlyn Chell led the defense with a team-high 21 digs.
Following back and forth action to start in the first set, the Lions broke a 3-3 tie by winning nine of the next 10 points to take a 12-4 advantage. Seven of the nine points in the run for the Lions came from kills. The Scarlet Raiders responded with five-straight points to make it a 12-9 game before Albright extended its lead back out to five at 16-11 after taking four of the next six points. The Scarlet Raiders pulled with two points twice at 18-16 and 20-18, but would get no closer than that in the rest of the set. The Lions won five of the next seven points to close out the first set.
Rutgers-Newark jumped out to a 4-1 lead before the Lions responded with three-straight points to tie the set at four. Following back-to-back points from the Scarlet Raiders, the Lions six of the next eight points to take an 11-8 lead. Rutgers-Newark pulled within one point at 13-12, but the Lions answered by taking five of the next seven points to go up 18-14. The Scarlet Raiders then won four-straight points to tie the set at 18. Albright countered with three-straight points to take a 21-18 lead before the Scarlet Raiders raced ahead of the Lions by winning six of the next seven points to go up 24-22. Albright was able to force extra points with a kill from junior
Shelby Cheuvront and an ace from Mejias, but the Scarlet Raiders fended off the Lions by taking the set at 27-25.
The third set went back and forth to start before the Lions pulled ahead at 8-6 following three-straight points. Rutgers-Newark rallied to tie the set at nine and the teams traded eight-straight points to leave the score knotted at 13. Albright broke the tie by winning six of the next eight points to take a 19-15 advantage. The Scarlet Raiders pulled as close as 21-18 before the Lions closed the set out with four-straight points, taking a 2-1 set lead.
The Scarlet Raiders began the fourth set red-hot and jumped out to a 9-3 advantage. Albright rallied to take four of the next five points to cut the lead down to 10-7, but Rutgers-Newark took command of the set by winning seven-straight points to go back up 17-7. Albright made a late surge to get within seven points at 21-14 before the Scarlet Raiders won four of the next five points to force a fifth set. The Lions started the fifth set strong by taking an early 4-1 lead behind four kills. Rutgers-Newark countered by winning five of the next six points to take a 6-5 advantage and the Lions responded by winning three of the next four to go back up at 8-7. Each team traded three-straight points to leave the Lions up 11-10, but the Scarlet Raiders pulled ahead by taking four of the next five points to go up 14-12. A kill from Mejias drew the Lions within one point at 14-13 with a kill before the Scarlet Raiders responded with a kill to win the match.
Sharon Starling led the Scarlet Raiders with a game-high 17 kills in addition to tallying 15 digs and 13 assists. Jaclyn Shrubsall added 10 kills, 16 digs, and paced the Rutgers-Newark offense with 24 assists.
The Lions return to action on Wednesday, October 20th as they will head across town to take on Alvernia at 7 p.m.
