FAIRFIELD, CT – Rutgers-Newark sophomore outside hitter Nate Stott and junior right side Kenny Rienecker combined for 31 kills to lead five Scarlet Raiders in double-digits in a 3-1 win over Sacred Heart in the Pitt Center.

NCAA Box Score

Rutgers-Newark (3-5, NJAC 2-1) hit a solid .405 as a squad, winning 30-32, 30-13, 30-24, 30-21, in the EIVA Hay contest which gave the squad more victories this season under first-year head coach Karl France than it experience in all of 2007.

Freshman setter Jeff Zornig bumped up 60 assists, roped two aces and made six digs while posting two solo blocks and an assisted block against the Pioneers (0-5, EIVA Hay 0-3). Rienecker hit .444 (15 kills, 3 errors, 27 attacks) and led the Raiders with four aces, and three solo blocks while adding six digs. Stott had a match-high 16 kills, hitting .312, and added seven digs.

Sophomore middle hitter Jon Keller pounded down 13 kills on a team-best .579 (13-2-19) hitting percentage while freshmen Nick Johnson and first-year junior Myron James chipped in 11 kills apiece. James added four aces and three solo blocks while Johnson notched three aces.

Junior libero Derek Wolfe registered eight of the Raiders' 37 digs.

After falling 32-30 in the opening game despite hitting .323, Rutgers-Newark controlled every fact of the match. Sacred Heart hit just .077 (34-26-104) with Kalani Efstathiou collecting team-highs of 15 kills and eight digs. The Raiders piled up an even dozen blocks to the Pioneers' 6.0. Rutgers-Newark delivered 14 aces to three for Sacred Heart.

Rutgers-Newark hosts No. 8 Ohio State on Friday and Ball State on Saturday in The Golden Dome. Each non-conference match begins at 7 p.m.