NEWARK, NJ – Senior right side Kenny Rienecker notched 13 kills and Rutgers-Newark hit .337 as a team to down Harvard, 3-0, in The Golden Dome and claim the top seed from the EIVA Hay in the upcoming EIVA Championship Tournament. Set scores were 30-28, 30-25, 30-23. 

NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play

The Scarlet Raiders (9-13, EIVA Hay 6-2), who snapped a six-match losing streak, tied the Crimson (11-6, EIVA Hay 6-2) in the final league standings. The teams split their regular-season series, but Rutgers-Newark gets the better seeding via tie-breakers.

Junior outside hitter Nate Stott posted match-highs of 15 points and nine digs with 10 kills, a match-high four aces and two blocking assists. Junior middle hitter Jon Keller hit .636 with nine kills and two errors in just 11 swings and added two aces, a solo block and a match-high four assisted blocks.

Senior middle blocker Brady Weissbourd and freshman outside hitter Matt Jones paced Harvard with nine kills apiece.

Raider sophomore setter Liran Shapiro notched 43 assists while running the attack and chipped in three kills, six digs, a solo block and three assisted blocks as Rutgers-Newark constructed a 10.5-6.0 edge in blocking.

Senior outside hitter Derek Wolfe notched 11.5 points on seven kills, three aces, a solo block and an assisted block for the Raiders while junior middle hitter Kenneth Stumbaugh hit .600 (7-1-10) and an ace and three assisted blocks.

In set one, the balanced Raiders won despite being out-hit .258 to .200. A kill by Rienecker followed by back-to-back aces by Stott staked Rutgers-Newark to a 14-8 lead. The Crimson trimmed the lead to 29-28 on a kill by Jones and a Raider attack error, but a Stumbaugh kill ended the frame.

In set two, Shapiro had 15 assists as the Raiders hit .452 to take command of the contest. Rienecker hammered down five kills without an error on just eight attacks to lead the way. Weissbourd had five kills and Jones, four in the set as the Crimson hit a solid .250.

In the third frame, Rienecker again had five kills as Rutgers-Newark took advantage of a depleted Harvard roster. Shapiro tallied 13 assists as the Raiders closed out the night by hitting .357 in the topper.

Rutgers-Newark and Harvard now await bracket announcements in the EIVA Championship.