CAMBRIDGE, MA – Rutgers-Newark junior outside hitter Nate Stott totaled 21 points on 14 kills, four aces, a solo block and four assisted blocks, but Harvard rallied to hand the Scarlet Raiders their first EIVA Hay loss of the season, 3-2. Set scores were 30-27, 24-30, 31-33, 30-25, 15-12 in the 2-hour, 8-minute match. 

NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play

Junior middle blocker Kenneth Stumbaugh collected 15.5 points on 11 kills, an ace and seven assisted blocks for the Raiders (6-7, EIVA Hay 4-1) while sophomore setter Liran Shapiro notched 55 assists, two aces and two assisted blocks. Stumbaugh hit .471 (11-3-17) while freshman outside hitter Marcin Midura hammered down six kills with just one error on seven swings (.714). 

Senior right side Kenny Rienecker chipped in 13 kills, five digs and two assisted blocks as Rutgers-Newark had a 13-0-9.0 edge in blocks for the match. Freshman libero Caden Mulligan posted a 17 digs while junior middle blocker Jon Keller gave the Raiders four player in double-digits with 10 kills, five assisted blocks and five digs. 

Brady Weissbourd compiled match-high totals of 33.5 points on 28 kills, three aces, a solo block and three assisted blocks while adding seven digs for the Crimson (4-5, EIVA Hay 2-1). Matt Jones added 14 kills, an ace, two assisted blocks and seven digs for Harvard which also got 13 kills, two aces, an assisted block and a team-high eight digs from Erik Kuld. Setter Gil Weintraub totaled 57 assists, an ace, a solo block, two assisted blocks and six digs. 

Midura posted all of his attack numbers in the fifth frame, accounting for all but one of Rutgers-Newark's kills. But Jones had five kills and Weissbourd, four, as Harvard hit a crisp .389 to the Raiders' .111 to take the contest. A Midura kills knotted the score at 12-12 before Weissbourd ended the night with a kill, a solo block and a combo block with Soren Rosier. 

Weissbourd pulled the Crimson even in the match with 11 kills in the fourth set, equaling the Raiders' team total for kills. Harvard led wire-to-wire to make it 2-2. 

Stott had five kills to pace a balanced Raider attack to vault Rutgers-Newark into the lead with a 33-31 win in set three. Rutgers-Newark led by seven three times in the frame with a Stott kill boosting the Raiders into the lead at 26-19 before a Crimson rally knotted the score at 28-28. The Crimson had set point at 30-29 and 31-30 before a Stott kill and back-to-back combo blocks by Stumbaugh and Shapiro ended the set. 

After falling, 30-27, in the opening set, the Raiders hit .258 to level the match with a 30-24 win. Rienecker and Stumbaugh had four kills apiece while Stott notched three kills, an ace, a solo block and two assisted blocks. Rienecker had two kills as Rutgers-Newark closed out the frame with an 8-2 run. 

It was the second straight 5-set marathon in conference play for the Raiders who edged Sacred Heart, 23-30, 30-21, 28-30, 30-20, 23-21 last Friday on the road.

The Raiders host NJIT on Monday night at 7 o'clock in The Golden Dome before going to NYU on Wednesday for a key EIVA Hay match.