CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Drew University women's volleyball team came from behind to beat Rowan University 3-2 in the first match of the DeSales University Quad Friday evening in a non-conference tilt.
The Rangers (13-11) rallied twice to hand the Profs (18-4) just their fourth loss of the season. Rowan sits atop the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings at 7-0 and two days earlier appeared in the first set of NCAA regional rankings.
The Profs won the opener 25-21. Drew came back to tie it up with a 25-22 win before Rowan went back in front with a 25-14 triumph in the third set. However, the Blue and Green would not go away, winning 25-20 and 15-9 in the final two sets.
It was the second straight five-set match for the Rangers, who were edged by Susquehanna University in a Landmark Conference tilt Wednesday evening.
Sophomore
Andrea Camacho-Tenreiro paced Drew with 18 kills and 19 digs while junior
Melina Christodoulou threw down a season-high 12 kills. Sophomore
Jasmine Butler tied her season-best with 44 assists, and classmate
Lauren Gaza registered 26 digs.
Natalie Ogden led Rowan with 14 kills and 16 digs.
The opening set was a back-and-forth affair, and the Profs led 20-17 late. The Rangers rallied with a 4-0 spurt, including a pair of kills from Camacho-Tenreiro, to go up 21-20 but Rowan ended the set on a 5-0 run.
Drew jumped out to a 9-4 lead to open the second set, but Rowan kept it close and eventually took the lead (19-18). It was tied at 22-all before the Rangers won the final three points on a Rowan service error and kills from Butler and Christodoulou.
The third set was close early on, with the Rangers leading 11-9 following an ace from Gaza. But that's when Rowan broke it open, as a 9-0 surge turned into a 16-3 run to end the stanza.
The Profs led 9-7 in the fourth set, but after a 4-0 spurt Drew would not trail again. The Rangers led just 17-16, but that's when they erupted for a key 5-1 run to open up some breathing room. Christodoulou started the run with back-to-back kills and added a block later in the outburst. Rowan was unable to get closer than four the rest of the way.
The Rangers never trailed in the final set after scoring the first two points on kills from Camacho-Tenreiro and Christodoulou. Drew pushed its lead to 10-4 on an ace from Camacho-Tenreiro, who clinched the match with another kill.
The Rangers play twice on Saturday, taking on DeSales at 10 a.m. before facing Hamilton College at noon.
