Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEWARK, N.J. (March 31, 2015) – The Rutgers-Newark men's volleyball team improved to 16-8 overall and 8-1 in the Continental Volleyball Conference with 3-0 wins over Stevenson University and Thiel College last weekend at The Golden Dome Arena.
 
On Friday night, the Scarlet raiders defeated Stevenson by set scores of 32-30, 25-21 and 25-19, before coming back on Saturday to roll over Thiel in 56 minutes by scores of 25-18, 25-22 and 25-12.
 
Stevenson dropped to 15-11 on the season with Thiel falling to 11-12.
 
Rutgers-Newark 3, Stevenson 0
The Mustangs pushed R-N to extra volleyball in the first set, with the Scarlet Raiders gutting out a 32-30 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second set was a different story as the Scarlet Raiders jumped out to a 5-0 lead, never looking back, and in the third the hosts turned a 12-11 deficit into an 18-14 lead before cruising 25-19.
 
Rutgers-Newark hit .328 in the match, with a set-high of .378 coming in the third. Junior middle Cody Chidsey was dominant, recording 19 kills on 27 attempts and carding a hitting percentage of .556. He added one block and two digs to his line. Sophomore middle Nick Kuti tallied 12 kills and six blocks (two block solos), swinging .579 as junior setter Kevin McCandless dished out 45 assists, recorded two aces and had nine digs in a very strong performance. Junior libero Quocmy Nguyen led the Raiders with 13 digs.
 
Rutgers-Newark 3, Thiel 0
The Scarlet Raiders left little doubt in the win over Thiel, hitting .299 for the match including .355 in the first set and .435 in the third. Chidsey led the Raiders with 11 kills and two blocks, swinging an incredible .563 on 16 total attempts. Junior opposite Travis Mintzer had nine kills and four total blocks, with McCandless registering 36 assists. Sophomore outside Jack Fredricks, Nguyen, senior opposite Alex Barnhard and freshman opposite Corey Pieper all tallied five or more digs.
 
As a team, Rutgers-Newark held Thiel to a .092 hitting percentage, piling up 55.0 total points, 12.0 team blocks and 37 digs.
 
Up next for Rutgers-Newark will be a Wednesday CVC conference showdown with fourth-ranked Juniata College in The Golden Dome Arena. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. and fans can visit www.RutgersNewarkAthletics.com for links to live video Wednesday.