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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (April 9, 2015) – A trio of junior members of the 14th-ranked Rutgers-Newark men's volleyball team earned all-conference honors from the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) on Thursday.
 
Junior middle Cody Chidsey, junior setter Kevin McCandless and junior libero Quocmy Nguyen were named All-CVC as a total of nine individuals from the conference earned honors. Rutgers-Newark and Juniata College each placed three on the team with one each coming from Stevenson University, Thiel college and Marymount University.
 
The CVC's major end-of-the-year honors (Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, etc.) will be awarded next week after the conference tournament is played. The Scarlet Raiders – who cracked the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Poll for the first time Tuesday – earned the No. 1 seed and hosting rites for the tournament with an 11-1 conference record (19-8 overall) and a win over then-No. 4 Juniata College on April 1.
 
Chidsey, a middle hitter, averaged 3.59 kills per set during CVC play with a conference best .509 hitting percentage. He came on extremely strong at the end of the season, earning the last two CVC Player of the Week honors in addition to being named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Division III Player of the Week Tuesday morning. Chidsey is third in the entire nation in hitting percentage (.447), leading the conference in kills per set and ranking second in the CVC in points per set. The veteran Scarlet Raider has double-digit kills in seven of his last eight matches and six straight as Rutgers-Newark heads into the postseason on a six-match winning streak.
 
McCandless compiled a conference-best 520 assists in league play this year as he led the CVC's second most efficient attack and an offense that averaged a conference high 13.24 kills per set. McCandless ranks third nationally in assists per set (10.40) and first in the CVC, also tallying a team-high 28 service aces. Over the team's last six matches, McCandless has dished out 45, 36, 45, 53, 44 and 50 assists, averaging 10.50 helpers per set. The Leesburg, Va. native is also second on the team in digs with 127.
 
Nguyen is the libero representative on 2015 All-CVC team. He has played in a team-high 97 sets and 27 matches, totaling 201 total digs (2.1 per set). A 5-8 junior from Wescosville, Pa., Nguyen moving to full-time libero midway through the season has helped the Scarlet Raiders in a big way, forcing the opposition to earn its points. After starting the year 0-5, R-N has won 19-of-22 with many of those wins coming with Nguyen at libero.
 
The 2015 CVC Tournament will be Friday and Saturday, April 10-11, in The Golden Dome Arena. In the first semifinal at 5 p.m., second-seeded Stevenson will battle third-seeded Marymount, with the top-seeded Scarlet Raiders hosting fourth-seeded Thiel at 7:30 p.m. The two winners will square off for the conference title and automatic berth into the 2015 NCAA Division III Championship Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
Anyone with a Rutgers-Newark ID can watch the tournament free of charge. Limited edition t-shirts will be given out to all Scarlet Raider fans (while supplies last) starting at 7 p.m. Friday night.
 
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