Stockton and Ramapo Advance to NJAC Championship

Story Courtesy of the NJAC Site

PITMAN—Top-seeded Richard Stockton and second-seeded Ramapo advanced to the NJAC Championship Match by posting 3-0 wins during the semifinal round of the 2010 NJAC Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament on November 4.

RICHARD STOCKTON 3, ROWAN 0

POMONA--Top-seeded Richard Stockton (24-7) advanced to the NJAC championship match with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of fourth-seeded Rowan in the conference semifinals. The Ospreys will play for their third straight NJAC championship when they host second-seeded Ramapo on November 6 at 1 p.m.

Stephanie Warner and Kasey Hennecke led Stockton to victory with nine kills apiece. Laura Hausman dished 28 assists and Christine Astarita scooped 20 digs for the Ospreys. Nikki Binetti paced Rowan with eight kills and Krissy Collins added six kills while Nikki Ciandella handed out 16 assists for the Profs.

Hennecke powered Stockton to a 25-15 victory in the first set with four kills and Hausman dished 11 assists in directing the Osprey attack. Rowan battled in the second set behind Binetti’s four kills, but Stockton countered with three spikes apiece from Hennecke, Christine Velott and Nicole Serekian

The Ospreys snapped a 22-22 tie by winning the last three points to take the set 25-22. Stockton pulled away in the third set, opening up a 10-3 lead. The Ospreys’ lead increase to 11 points at 20-9 and they closed out the match 25-15 for their seventh consecutive win. Middle hitters Warner and Tabitha Nejman led the way with five and four kills respectively. Collins notched four kills in final frame for Rowan.

Stockton will try to become the first team since Kean in 1993-95 to win three straight NJAC championships when the Ospreys host Ramapo on Saturday at 1 p.m. Stockton defeated Ramapo 25-10, 25-16, 25-18 in a regular season meeting on September 23. The NJAC champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament.

RAMAPO 3, RUTGERS-CAMDEN 0

MAHWAH-- The NJAC Player of the Year, Michelle Ferrari led the #2 seeded Roadrunners of Ramapo College to a 3-0 sweep over the #3 seeded Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers Camden University in the semi-final match-up of the 2010 Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament on November 4 at the Bradley Center. The Roadrunners advance to play the top-seeded Ospreys of Richard Stockton College on November 6 at 1:00pm in Pomona for the championship crown.

In game one, the Roadrunners earned a 25-17 win behind a .750 hitting performance from Meagan Taege. Taege posted six kills on eight attempts with no errors. Maura Burke chipped in five kills and Ferrari added four in the win as the team went 16-35 with only two hitting errors hitting .400 in the game. Tiffany Fischer dished out 11 assists and Julia Tuzio led the team's defense with three digs. The Scarlet Raptors were led by Kristin Koloski in game one who posted seven kills an no errors on 11 attempts hitting .636 in the team's offensive attack. Koloski recorded more than half of the team's kills as the Scarlet Raptors combined for 13 hitting .321. Stephanie Miller assisted on 12 kills and Rebecca Brown controlled the defense with four digs.

Ramapo took a two game lead with a five point, 25-20 win in game two of a best-out-of-five match-up. Ferrari led the Roadrunners in game two hitting .455 with six kills on 11 attempts. Taege added five kills and Fischer added 11 assists. Defensive specialist Elizabeth Steck led the way with six digs. Ramapo hit .297 as a team with 14 kills and three errors. Katherine Crosby led Rutgers Camden's offense with seven kills as her team totaled 15 with seven errors on 40 attempts hitting .200 in the loss. Miller added 12 assists and Catherine Tadeja stepped up her defense leading the way with eight digs.

The Roadrunners took the match with a 25-19 win in game three behind six kills from Ferrari as she hit .308 on 13 attempts. The team went 14-39 with five errors hitting .231 ahead of Rutgers-Camden's 10-33 .152. Fischer dished out an additional eight assists while Steck again led the defense with five digs. Olivia Murphy and Chelsea Schmotzer each contributed three kills in the final game for the Scarlet Raptors. Miller dished out ten assists and Tadeja led the defense a match high 11 digs.

On the night, Ferrari led Ramapo with 16 kills on 36 attempts hitting .333 while Teage contributed 11 kills with no hitting errors on 28 attempts hitting .393. Burke contributed ten kills to the victory as the team hit 44-111 with ten errors hitting .306. Fischer finished the night with 30 assists and three service aces while Steck led the defense with ten digs. Ferrari and Teage contributed nine digs each on the night.

Koloski and Crobsy recorded 12 and 11 kills respectively while the Scarlet Raptors combined for 38 kills on 101 attempts, they hit .218 in the loss. Miller finished the night with 34 assists while Tadeja recorded a team high 20 digs. Brown and Crobsy each added ten digs on the night.