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Box Score 2 San Juan, Puerto Rico: The Ramapo College women's volleyball team returned from their international trip to Puerto Rico with a 2-0 record. The Roadrunners traveled to play one exhibition match and two regular season matches from August 29th through September 2nd.
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The Roadrunners kicked off the 2017 season with an exhibition match against Universidad Metropolitana de Puerto Rico before they earned wins over Lasell College and Simpson College in regular season action. This was the third trip to Puerto Rico for the team and fourth internationally. The Roadrunners traveled to the Dominican Republic prior to the 2007 season before heading to Puerto Rico in 2008 and 2015. Ramapo has their eye on the NJAC Championship and another appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
"It was a successful trip allowing our program to visit and learn from the Puerto Rican culture. We visited an amazing eco-system, Bioluminescent Bay in Fajardo, P.R., during a kayak tour that only exists in a few places around the world. One amazing sight we saw on a night trip in the Caribbean waters was to witness hundreds of tiny star-like plankton shimmering in the water as you moved through them", says head coach Rob Pichardo.
The team worked out with UMET, a top Division II team in P.R., on day two of the trip before traveling to Old San Juan to visit the Fort of San Felipe del Morro. On day three, the Roadrunners went up against UMET in a scrimmage exhibition match. The team was able to learn some of the tactics they use. "The competition was challenging but we were able to gain what we needed including style of play, and discipline to close out our 2017 preseason on a positive note," continued Pichardo.
Ramapo would take on Lasell and Simpson on their final full day in Puerto Rico. In a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-13) win over Lasell in the first match of the day, reigning NJAC Volleyball Player of the Year
Larysa Iwaskiw, led the Roadrunners with 22 kills on 41 attempts while she hit .341 in the match. She also collected ten digs and one solo block. Rookie
Hannah Frascella hit .500 in the match with seven kills on 12 attempts while adding five digs. Senior
Amanda Rose added six kills while junior
Judy Errichetti collected four of her own. Sophomore setter
Kate Shirkey dished out a team high 28 assists while rookie
Sara Correa also posted 13 assists. Sophomore
Samantha Main led the team with four blocks including three solo along with two kills while sophomore
Karina Almeda led the Ramapo defense with 13 digs.
Against Simpson, the Roadrunners came away with a tough 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20) victory. Iwaskiw once again led the team with 28 kills hitting .447 in the match with 47 attempts and just seven errors, she also collected a team high 26 digs, one block and one ace. Frascella added six kills while Rose posted five of her own. Main and sophomore
Felicia Jimenez each led the team with two blocks each. Shirkey led with 20 assists while Correa dished out 19 of her own. Almeda contributed on defense with ten digs and two aces.
The Roadrunners earned votes in week one of the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll released on Sept. 5th. Ramapo returns to action this weekend at Farmingdale State College when they take on Manhattanville College on Saturday before they take on the host Rams later in the day. The team will return to the Bradley Center for their home opener against non-conference rival Hunter College on Tuesday, September 12th at 7pm.
