NEWARK, NJ – Senior outside hitter Marcin Midura hammered down five of his match-high 22 kills in the fifth game as Rutgers-Newark climbed out of a 2-0 deficit and survived a match point to notch a 3-2 win over Kean University.  The Scarlet Raiders (2-1) thwarted the upset bid by the D-III Cougars (0-1) in The Golden Dome Arena, 20-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-18, 17-15.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Senior right side Austin Pappas notched his 14th kill of the evening before joining classmate Grant Metheny and freshman outside hitter Lorenzo Samin for the match-ending block to subdue the Cougars in the 1-hour and 43 minute battle.

Marcin hit .488 with just two attack errors in 41 swings while adding two aces and nine digs for the Raiders who bounced back from a 2-game deficit to a D-III foe to win for the second time in eight days.  NYU pushed the Raiders to five games in the season opener.

Pappas added 14 kills, two aces, a pair of solo blocks and four assisted blocks for 20.0 points while junior middle hitter Brett Pickens hit .479 (13 kills, 2 errors, 19 attacks) and got in on five blocks for 15.5 points.  Freshman setter Manuel Felipez fueled the Raider attack with 49 assists and added three kills.

Senior libero Zack Chambers came up with a match-high 10 digs as Rutgers-Newark scrapped for 43.  Samin and Pappas had seven digs apiece.  Samin also delivered three aces, made three solo blocks and got in on three other blocks.  Metheny also had three aces while getting in on three  of the Raiders' 13 blocks.

For the Cougars, senior outside hitter Christian Portera led the way with 10 kills and a pair of assisted blocks while freshman setter Alex Barnhard notched 34 assists.  The balanced Kean attack had junior outside hitter Steve Vahalla and freshman middle hitter Kyle Farley with seven kills apiece and freshman right side Ed Jadziniak and senior outside hitter Sam Haimann with six each.

Portera had five kills as Kean posted sideout percentages of 66.7 (14-21) and 71.4 (15-21) to grab a 2-0 lead.  Portera, Haimann and Farley had three kills apiece in the second frame as the Cougars hit a sizzling .391 (11-2-23).

The tide turned sharply in the third game when Pickens had six kills on as many swings and Pappas was three-for-three in attacks to boost the Raiders hitting percentage to .526 for the frame.

Midura had six kills without an error on 10 swings in the fourth game to help the Raiders hit .360 and level the match.

There were five ties and three lead changes in the fifth game with a block by Farley and Portera giving Kean match point at 14-13.  But a Cougar service error was followed by a block by Metheny and Pickens to give Rutgers-Newark its first match point.  A Raider attack error knotted things at 15-15 before Pappas helped R-N close out the night.

Rutgers-Newark hosts Sacred Heart on Thursday at 7 p.m. in its EIVA opener.