Box Score

NEWARK, NJ – Sophomore outside hitter Manuel Felipez hammered down a career-high 24 kills as Rutgers-Newark pushed No. 6 nationally-ranked Stevens before falling 3-1 in The Golden Dome Arena.  Game scores were 25-22, 25-15, 25-27, 25-23 in the non-conference battle.

Felipez added a solo block to give him a career-high 25.0 points and added eight digs as the Scarlet Raiders (2-9) had chances to win three of the four games against the Ducks (17-5) who are ranked sixth among NCAA D-III teams by the AVCA.

Freshman setters Adrian Lopez (24) and Kevin McCandless (20) combined for 44 assists as Rutgers-Newark bounced back from poor hitting in the opening two frames to hit .243 (32 kills, 15 errors, 70 attacks) in the final two sets and put suspense into the evening.  Freshman outside hitter Colin Ferguson contributed nine kills, a solo block and nine digs while freshman outside hitter Travis Mintzer hit .556 (6-1-9) while getting in on three blocks.  Rookie middle hitter Cody Chidsey tallied seven kills.

Junior outside hitter David Evans paced Stevens with 18 kills, a pair of service aces and two assisted blocks while senior outside hitter Thomas Hannum added 14 kills, an ace and an assisted block.  The Ducks hit a crisp .325 (57-16-126) behind the setting of sophomore Kevin Aeckerle who posted 40 assists in three games.  Sophomore setter Dan Schlosser tallied 11 assists in game three.

Sophomore middle hitter Etan Bennett put down eight kills on just 10 swings during the opening two games to help Stevens gain early control.  He hit a torrid .556 (11-1-18) in three games.

A kill by Ferguson gave the Raiders a 19-16 lead in game one before Stevens reeled off six straight points to take command.  Sophomore middle hitter Jake Modestow started the run with a kill and teamed with Bennett for a pair of back-to-back blocks in the middle of the run.  Evans capped the spree with a kill.

Bennett was a perfect six kills on as many swings in the second game as the Ducks led wire-to-wire.

In game three, Felipez exploded for 10 kills, including the set winner, as the Raiders stayed alive by cashing in their third set point.

There were 19 ties and 10 lead changes in the final set with a Felipez kill staking Rutgers-Newark to a 23-22 lead before back-to-back kills by Hannum and Evans set up match point for the Ducks.  A Raider attack error ended the contest.  Evans had eight kills on 10 swings without and error in the game as Stevens hit .368 (19-5-38).  Felipez also had eight kills in the frame as the Raiders hit .324 (16-5-34).

It marked the eighth straight loss for Rutgers-Newark while Stevens bounced back from a 3-1 loss to No. 3 Juniata.

Rutgers-Newark hosts George Mason in an EIVA match at 2 p.m. on Saturday in The Golden Dome Arena.