Mahwah, NJ:  On the opening day of the 2016 Roadrunner Invitational, the Ramapo College women's volleyball team finished on top as they recorded two sweeps over Hunter College and FDU-Florham to improve to 8-3 overall on the year.  Head Coach Robert Pichardo said "I think we played some good volleyball today.  Beating Hunter in three and then sweeping non-conference rival FDU was really important for us."

Ramapo Matches:
In their opening match with Hunter, the Roadrunners earned a 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-20) sweep after playing the Hawks to a five set win earlier in the season.  Behind 12 kills from junior Larysa Iwaskiw, the team hit a combined .259 with 31 kills on 85 attempts and nine errors.  Iwaskiw hit .250 in the match collecting 36 attempts and just three errors.  Emily Guzman recorded nine kills and Judy Errichetti chipped in four.  Kate Shirkey dished out 19 assists and Rachel Selmore added seven in the three set win.  Iwaskiw, Kristen Behrens, and Sarah Mulligan each picked up eight digs and Karina Almeda collected five.  For the Hawks, Taylor Kerr-Haiduk led the team with ten kills and Julia Connolly added nine as the team went 22-87 hitting .069 in the loss.  Breanna Banske contributed 21 assists and the defense was led by Haley Trunkett with 19 digs.

Wrapping up the evening the Roadrunners swept FDU-Florham, 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-16) this time behind eight kills each from Iwaskiw, Guzman, and Errichetti.  Guzman and Errichetti hit .571 and .538 respectively as the team went 29-98 with 15 errors hitting .143.  Shirkey and Selmore split the setting duties again tallying 14 and 11 assists while Almeda picked up a team leading 17 digs.  For the Devils, Melisa Gaffney, Lauren Harris and Kate Quinlan each picked up four kills in the three set loss.  Brianna Perone led in assists contributing 11 and the team's defensive leader was Nikole Meluso with 20.

Pichardo added, "It was a great feeling to have earning two wins tonight.  Tomorrow we have a tough one against New Paltz and we want to continue to make an impression in other conferences."

Other Matches:
New Paltz: 3 - Mt. St. Mary 0
In the opening match on court two, the Hawks of New Paltz defeated Mt. St. Mary in three straight sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 behind eight kills from Meghan Keyes who recorded just one hitting error on 11 attempts hitting .636.  The team combined hitting .165 with 38 kills on 91 attempts.  Chantal Ramhorst tallied six kills as Maddie Zwickl dished out 28 assists.  The defense was led by Anna Paulik with 13 digs.  For MSMC, Rachel Sabatini led the team with four kills as they recorded a total 14 in the loss hitting -0.62 as a team.  Kristen Maddock led with nine assists and Madelyn Barberan led the team's defensive game with ten digs.

Hunter: 3 - Mt. St. Mary – 0
Hunter defeated Mt. St. Mary, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) behind 14 kills from Connolly.  Kerr-Haiduk collected ten kills as the team went 30-75 with 14 errors hitting .213. Banske dished out 21 assists and Kerr-Haidul led the defense with 15 digs.  For Mt. St. Mary, Sabatini recorded a team leading seven kills as the team combined hitting .087 with 26 kills on 92 attempts and 18 errors.  Maddock collected 23 assists and Barberan led the team's defensive game with nine digs.

New Paltz: 3 - FDU-Florham 1
New Paltz collected their second win of the nigh as they defeated the Devils of FDU-Florham 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-16, 25-15).  Morgan Roessler led the team with 17 kills and Paulik added 14 as the team hit a combined .207 in the win.  The Hawks collected a combined 52 kills on 145 with 22 errors.  Zwickl dished out 43 assists and five Hawks collected double-digit digs with Zwickl leading with 16.  Paulik added 15, Keyes 13, Veronica Matedero 14 and Meg Kinee ten.  For FDU-Florham, the team hit .121 in the loss as Harris led the way with 11 kills and Quinlan added ten.  Courtney Conte collected 20 assists and the defense was led by Rachel Catena with 23 digs.  

The action continues tomorrow at 11am when the Roadrunners take on Mt. St. Mary on court one, and Hunter takes on FDU-Florham on court two.  At 1pm, New Paltz and Hunter face off while Mt. St. Mary and FDU-Florham compete on the opposite court.  The final match of the day at 3pm will be Ramapo verse New Paltz.