NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark senior libero
Val Dauti had 13 digs and a pair of aces to help the Scarlet Raiders rally for a 3-1 season-ending victory over Bard on her Senior Night in The Golden Dome Arena. Set scores were 23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15.
Rutgers-Newark 3, Bard 1
The Raiders (4-26) won three of their last four matches to bump their victory total past last season’s while setting the stage for a promising 2010 season for the very young team. Dauti, who capped a three-year run as the top libero for the team, is the only senior.
Freshman middle blocker
Rachel Witt totaled a team-high 10 points with nine kills and an ace while junior middle blocker
Na-Keta Michael hit a torrid .389 with seven kills on 18 swings with zero errors. She also joined classmate
Stephanie Touzan for match-high honors with a pair of solo blocks.
Junior setter
Gabi Mangieri had a double-double with 18 assists and 11 digs while also delivering three of the Raiders’ 15 aces. Sophomore outside hitter
Toni Moppert had a match-high six aces to go along with nine digs and a pair of kills. Junior outside hitter
Crystal Navarro was solid with five kills and two aces as Rutgers-Newark got production from its entire starting rotation.
Bard (7-17) got a match-high 10 kills and 11 digs from sophomore outside hitter Rachel Van Horn while freshman setter Ruth Ashebir notched 24 assists, 10 digs and four digs.
The Raptors got four more kills than the Raiders (30-26), but they committed twice as many attack errors (34-17) to give the Raiders a clear edge. R-N also piled up a 15-6 advantage in service aces.