NEWARK, NJ | The Scarlet Raiders (24-10) took down Ramapo College (19-11) and New Jersey City University (23-10) en route to securing their second straight Eastern College Athletic Conference championship at home.
 
Match 1: Rutgers-Newark 3, Ramapo 0 ( 25-22, 25-20, 25-21)
 
Rutgers-Newark took the lead early and held onto it tightly. They won seven of the first eleven points in set number one. The Roadrunners stayed close, and even tied things at 12 and later 14. However, once the Scarlet Raiders were back on top, they stayed there. With the score set at 24-19, the visitors made a good run to get within two points, but the set went to Rutgers-Newark.
 
The Scarlet Raiders carried their momentum into the second set and established a commanding 11-4 advantage. Ramapo slowly worked their way back into contention, whittling the lead down to three at 15-12, but a four point run for the hosts broke the set open again. This time there was no late push, and Aleks Kolodziej hit home to secure his team a two set lead.
 
Set three started the same as the first two. A 7-4 early scoreline in favor of Rutgers-Newark was erased at 7-7, but the Scarlet Raiders quickly jumped back on top. However, the Roadrunners were determined to avoid the sweep. They tied the set at 10 and 13, and stayed no more than a point behind when they were not level. It wasn't until the very end, with the score at 22-21, that the Scarlet Raiders rattled off three consecutive points to take home the victory and book themselves a spot in the ECAC Championship match.
 
Match 2: Rutgers-Newark 3, NJCU 0 (25-14, 25-28, 25-18)
 
The Scarlet Raiders looked like they were on a mission from the very start of this match. Alex Solodky powered his team to an absolutely dominant set one performance. They were up 7-3 early, and they did not look back. They maintained a lead larger than five points throughout the entire set, and took seven of the final eight points to take set one.
 
Set two was more of the same. Perhaps the Gothic Knights were sapped of energy from the five set semifinal that they had just played, but Rutgers-Newark was firing on all cylinders. They grabbed a 9-5 edge early on, and after NJCU tied it at 11-11, the home team kicked on the afterburners. A four point lead put them ahead by five at 21-16, and they sailed to the finish after that.
 
NJCU came out with renewed energy in the third set. They took the first four points, putting the hosts on the back foot. There was a slight response, but at first it seemed like the Gothic Knights had stifled the momentum shift with a 9-5 lead. However, it was not to be. An astonishing 8-1 run completely flipped the script and left the visitors floundering. Another big run, 9-3 on this occasion, further cemented the Scarlet Raiders' fate as eventual champions, and they did it without losing a set all tournament!
 
2025 ECAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ramapo: #4 Reece Kirchofer
Hunter: #24 Ahmed Mohamed
NJCU: #10 Marcus Pardasie
NJCU: #6 Matt Peralta
Rutgers-Newark: #11 Aidan Apito
Rutgers-Newark: #21 Massimo Roco
 
PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
Rutgers Newark: #14 Derek Au