Madison, N.J. (September 5)- First years Tayla O'Connor (Roxbury, N.J.) and Genevieve Fitch (Charleston, SC) each collected their first career double-digit kill matches during the Devils (1-3) 3-1 home-opening win against Ramapo (0-1) on Thursday afternoon.
 
O'Connor led the way with 13 kills as well as 12 digs and three assists while Fitch 10 kills, 11 digs and a service ace. Kiara Salme (Lyndhurst, N.J.) played a pivotal role on defense for the Devils with a career-high 25 digs while Rachel Reiter (Riverside, Calif.) led the team in both service aces and blocks with three apiece. Amaya Ocasio (Secaucus, N.J.) and Lilli Nawrotzki (Flemington, N.J.) set up the offense tonight with Ocasio collecting 18 assists and Nawrotzki following right behind with 17.
 
For the Roadrunners, Jasmine Rolle and Riley Stewart each tallied seven kills while Katie Bishop posted 22 assists and 11 digs. Amanda Fatouh and Emma Garica led the team in digs with 12 apiece
 
Set One: FDU jumped out to 3-0 lead that included kills from both O'Connor and Arianna Wood (Wayne, N.J.) as well as a service ace from Nawrotzki before Ramapo answered back with four straight points to flip the score in their favor, 4-3. The set was back-and-forth to a score of 9-8 Devils before Fairleigh Dickinson went on a 7-1 run that pushed them to a 16-9 advantage. The run included two kills from O'Connor, a kill from Wood and a service ace from Reiter. The two teams exchanged points sparingly up until a 21-17 score for FDU-Florham led to them closing out the set with four straight points to take set one, 25-17
 
Set Two: Set started off with a 3-3 tie before the Devils scored six straight to take a 9-3 edge. Ramapo scored four unanswered points to cut the lead to 9-7, but FDU fired back with 6-1 run that included a kill from Mackenzie Crandall (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and gave them a 15-8 advantage. The Roadrunners went on a short 5-2 run before another kill from O'Connor halted their run at a score of 18-13. Both teams fought back-and-forth to a score of 21-16 FDU before another four point close out gave the Devils a 25-16 set two win. The late surge included kills from Crandall and Fitch.
 
Set Three: The Devils held an early advantage at the beginning of the set and rode it to a 9-8 set score before Ramapo was able to flip the script and score seven straight to take a 15-9 lead. FDU was able to climb back after a 19-11 hole to cut the deficit to 19-17 after six straight points that included kills from Wood, Fitch and a service ace from Salme. A back-and-forth stretch gave the Roadrunners a chance to close it out at a score of 24-22, but the Devils did not give in and after two O'Connor kills, forced extra points. Ramapo collected the two points they needed right away on kills from Fatouh and Rolle and forced a fourth set after a 26-24 score.
 
Set Four: The Roadrunners held the early advantages up to a 6-3 score before the Devils took their first lead of the set with four straight points that included two kills from Reiter and a service ace from Fitch to take a 7-6 edge. The lead changed three times during the middle of the set and after a 14-13 lead for the Roadrunners, the Devils saw a massive 11-1 run that swung that gave them complete control of the set with a 24-15 lead. That run included three kills from O'Connor and one by Fitch. After two Ramapo points, Crandall sealed the victory for Fairleigh Dickinson with a kill to give the team their first win of the season.
 
FDU-Florham hits the road for their second tri-match of the season in Jersey City, N.J. where they faceoff with host New Jersey City at 10:00am, followed right after with a matchup against Bryn Mawr at 12:00pm on Saturday, September 7
 
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