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HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 23, 2015) – The 13th-ranked and seventh-seeded Rutgers-Newark men's volleyball team will face second-seeded and fourth ranked Springfield College in the quarterfinals of the 2015 NCAA Division III Championship on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology Friday night. First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. from the Canavan Arena.
 
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The Scarlet Raiders have reached the 'Elite Eight' of the national tournament by way of an automatic berth in the tournament thanks to the Continental Volleyball Conference title and a 3-0 sweep of Endicott College in the tournament's first round on April 18 in The Golden Dome Arena.
 
Who's Left?
Host and top-seeded Stevens will host un-seeded Baruch College who won a five-set thriller over eighth-seeded Lasell College in the other first round match last weekend. That will be the first match played Friday (12:30 p.m.). On that side of the bracket, fourth-seeded New Paltz and fifth-seeded Kean will tangle at 3 p.m.
 
Rutgers-Newark and Springfield are next at 5:30 p.m., with UC Santa Cruz and sixth-seeded Nazareth College battling at 8 p.m.
 
Close Calls!
Other than UC Santa Cruz and Springfield, the other six participants in the 'Elite Eight' come from either New York State or a very small 20 mile area. Nazareth College is from Rochester, N.Y., Baruch hails from New York City, New Paltz is also from New York State and Kean, Stevens and the Scarlet Raiders all hail from within 19 miles of each other in the great state of New Jersey.
 
Your Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders!
Rutgers-Newark has improved greatly in its first season as a member of NCAA Division III. R-N started the year 0-5 and since then has compiled a record of 22-4 to take an overall ledger of 22-9 into Friday's action.
 
The Raiders received contributions from up-and-down the lineup in their first round sweep of Endicott in what was the first NCAA Tournament match and win on Newark soil in Rutgers-Newark history. Sophomore middle Nick Kuti, junior middle Cody Chidsey and junior opposite Travis Mintzer all had double-digit kills, while junior setter Kevin McCandless racked up 38 assists and eight digs. Junior Quocmy Nguyen, whose insertion into the libero role has been a major reason for the team's improvement, tallied 10 digs, with senior Alex Barnhard, sophomore Jack Fredricks and freshman Ricky Crumlish all making their prescence felt last Saturday.
 
Chidsey was named a second-team AVCA All-American on Monday after receiving CVC Player of the Year honors the week before. An All-CVC pick, Chidsey was joined on the all-conference team by McCandless and Nguyen with McCandless, Mintzer and Fredricks being named to the 2015 CVC All-Tournament team. Rutgers-Newark coach Pedro Trevino was honored as the conference's Coach of the Year in the team's inaugural season in the league.
 
R-N ranks fourth nationally in blocks per set (2.50) and fifth in kills per set (12.47), placing sixth in assists per set (11.65) and eighth in hitting percentage. McCandless is No. 3 in the entire country in assists per set (10.57), and Kuti holds the same spot in blocks per set (1.25). Chidsey is third in the country in hitting percentage (.441), and Kuti is eighth (.389).
 
The Scarlet Raiders have not lost a match to a DIII foe since March 10 and have won 9-of-10 overall. Rutgers-Newark has yet to drop a set in postseason play, sweeping Thiel College in the CVC semis, Stevenson University in the CVC title match and Endicott in the first round of the national tournament.
 
Scouting the Pride
Springfield College is the defending NCAA National Champion, and the second-seeded team in the field of eight. The Pride have won three-straight crowns, earning titles in 2012 and 2013 in addition to last season's 3-0 National Championship match sweep against host Juniata College.
 
Springfield will bring in a record of 23-6 into Friday's match against the Raiders, having won their last nine outings dating back to a 3-0 sweep of Baruch College on March 26. The Pride's last loss to a Division III foe came on February 14 against Wentworth College.
 
The Massachusetts-based school is one of just three to appear in all four NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championships, joining Kean University and Baruch.
 
Springfield is led by a trio of first-team All-Americans in setter Keaton Pieper, outside Angel Perez and outside Ricardo Padilla-Ayala. The Pride comes into the quarters ranked first nationally in hitting percentage (.329), fourth in assists per set (11.72) and seventh in won-loss percentage. Pieper ranks seventh in the nation in assists per set, with Ayala checking in 10th in the country in aces per set. As a team, SC cracks the top-10 in blocks per set (2.42) and kills per set (12.35) as well.
 
Links
Rutgers-Newark Stats | Springfield Stats
 
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AVCA All-Americans
 
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