Newark, NJ:  The Ramapo College men's volleyball opened the 2018 season today at the Golden Dome Invitational where they dropped two tough matches to #2 ranked Stevens Institute of Technology and Elmira.  With the losses the Roadrunners open the year at 0-2 overall. 

Garrett Fitzsimmons led the offense in their first match-up of the day as they fell to the #2 ranked Ducks of the Stevens Institute of Technology, 0-3 (12-25, 14-25, 13-25).  Fitzsimmons recorded six kills while Conor Charlow recorded five of his own.  Eric Van Thuyne and Paul Close each chipped in three kills in the loss.  Lucas Inglis dished out 17 assists and picked up a team leading four digs.  Nicholas Esposito picked up four digs of his own.  The Roadrunners combined for 17 kills and 17 errors on 56 attempts hitting .000 in the match-up.  Stevens hit .472 as a team as they recorded 32 kills and seven errors on 53 attempts.  Ian Bennett led with 13 kills and Kyle Warnock added 12.  Grant Burden led with 17 assists and Michael Snajder picked up a team leading six digs.

In their second match-up the Roadrunners fell to Elmira in a thrilling five-set match 2-3 (21-25, 25-20, 30-28, 22-25, 5-15).  The team was led by Fitzsimmons with 14 kills and Van Thuyne with 12, as the team went 50-139 with 30 errors hitting .134.   Inglis dished out 45 assists and Esposito led the defense with 16 digs.  For Elmira, Jose Malave recorded 14 kills and Dan Symer collected 12 kills as the team went 47-126 with 24 errors hitting .183.  Jeremy Best dished out 36 assists and Colin Morrison led with 14 digs.

The Roadrunners return to action when they face off with Newbury and Emmanuel next weekend, January 27^th on the road at 2pm and 4pm respectively.