WAYNE, N.J. – It was a senior night to remember for the William Paterson volleyball team (19-9, 7-1 NJAC) as the Pioneers swept Rutgers-Newark (13-17, 1-7 NJAC) at the Sports and Recreation Center to capture the New Jersey Athletic Conference Regular Season title.
 
With the win, the Pioneers secured the top seed and home court advantage throughout the upcoming NJAC Tournament. William Paterson earned a first-round bye and will host a tournament semifinal match Thursday, Nov. 14, with the time to be determined.
 
William Paterson honored its four seniors – Hope Arce-Reed (New Carrollton, Md./College Park Academy), Ciara Feliz (Bogota, N.J./Bogota), Paola Molina (Hatillo, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Felipe) and Beatriz Soares (Harrison, N.J./County Prep) prior to the match.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• William Paterson owned a one-point lead (19-18) in the first set before outscoring Rutgers-Newark 6-1 the rest of the way to claim the 25-19 win. Arce-Reed contributed with three kills during the late run.
• The Pioneers trailed 13-10 in the second set until a kill by sophomore Kristian Glenn (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) sparked an 8-0 run that put WP ahead by five (18-13). The Scarlet Raiders responded with a 4-1 run to pull within two (19-17), but the Pioneers squeezed out the 25-21 victory.
• WP built a six-point advantage (17-11) in the third set before going on an 8-2 run to seal the 25-13 win.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Pioneers finished the conference slate with a 7-1 mark, tying the program record for most conference wins in a single season.
• It's the most NJAC victories in a season for WP since the 1989 team went 7-1.
• The Pioneers improved to 11-0 at home this year.
• WP extended its win streak to seven.
• Molina logged 11 digs to become the program's leader in single-season digs with 513.
• She became just the second Pioneer in program history to eclipse 500 digs in a season.
• Arce-Reed recorded a match-high 18 kills while posting a .500 attack percentage.
• Sophomore Cecilia Miller (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) finished with 14 kills and nine digs.
• Glenn totaled seven kills.
• Sophomore Abby Houpt (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) dished out a match-best 39 assists to pair with eight digs.

 
UP NEXT:

• William Paterson will close out the regular season Friday, Nov. 8, when the Pioneers play host to Elizabethtown for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference match.

 
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