Box Score
NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark freshman outside hitter
Travis Mintzer had a match-high 12 kills but Princeton posted a 3-0 sweep in EIVA play in The Golden Dome Arena. Game scores were 25-20, 25-23, 25-19.
Mintzer hit .500 (12 kill, two errors, 20 attacks) for Scarlet Raiders (2-13, EIVA 0-8) who suffered their 12th consecutive loss. Freshman middle hitter
Cody Chidsey tallied 11.0 points on nine kills, a solo block and two assisted blocks while sophomore outside hitter
Manuel Felipez added nine kills and two assisted blocks.
Rookie libero
Quocmy Nguyen came up with a match-high six digs for the Raiders while freshmen setters
Kevin McCandless (19) and
Adrian Lopez (15) combined for 34 assists.
Senior middle blocker Michael Dye notched a match-high 12 .5 points for Princeton. Dye hit a sizzling .727 with nine kills and just one error on 11 swings while getting in on five of the Tigers' 10 blocks as Princeton (9-6, EIVA 7-2) tied George Mason for second place in the conference race by hitting .322 (44-16-87) as a team.
Junior setter Davis Waddell distributed 36 assists and dumped in three kills for the Tigers while junior middle blocker Brad Howard pounded down six kills on 10 swings without an error and got in on five blocks for 8.5 points. Freshman outside hitter Michael Bagnell and junior outside hitter Jeff Stapleton had seven kills apiece.
After seven ties and three lead changes in the early going of game one, the Tigers got back-to-back kills by freshman outside hitter Devin Stearns and Dye to ignite a 5-0 run which put the visitors ahead for keeps. Dye had four kills and a solo block in the frame to offset four kills apiece by Mintzer and Chidsey.
In game two, sophomore middle hitter Will Siroky had a kill and Bagnell added a service ace to start a 6-1 Tiger run which put Princeton in control, 19-15. Rutgers-Newark shaved their deficit to one five times before a Stapleton kill ended the set. Stapleton notched four kills in the game while Felipez recorded five kills for the Raiders.
In the final frame, Stapleton and Bagnell had back-to-back kills to begin a 3-0 run while gave the Tigers the lead for good at 12-10. Howard ended the afternoon with a kill.
Rutgers-Newark travels two blocks to play neighborhood rival NJIT on Tuesday in another EIVA match before competing in the Springfield Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
