UNION, N.J. (January 30, 2016) - The fifth-ranked Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team improved to 7-0 with two wins on Saturday in the Clash at Kean. The Scarlet Raiders defeated Lasell College, 3-2, and completed a flawless tournament with a 3-1 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology.

The Scarlet Raiders return to action at New Jersey City University for a non-conference match on Tuesday night and visit Stevenson University Saturday in their Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) opener.

Senior opposite Travis Mintzer - who had 47 kills in the three tournament matches - was the Rutgers-Newark representative on the All-Tournament Team.

Rutgers-Newark 3, Lasell 2 (25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 23-25, 15-9)
The Scarlet Raiders raced out to a 2-0 lead in the match and looked destined for their fourth sweep of the year, but Lasell was able to earn a convincing victory in the third set and edged Rutgers in the fourth to force a fifth and deciding set.

After splitting the first four points (2-2) of the fifth, junior outside Jack Fredricks knocked home a kill, and Mintzer and junior middle Nick Kuti combined for a block to give the Scarlet Raiders a two-point lead.

Lasell (2-3) came back to tie things at five, but the Scarlet Raiders went back on top by two, before a big-time 5-0 run all but sealed the victory. Senior middle Cody Chidsey started things with a kill, and sophomore outside Corey Pieper ended it with one of his own to give Rutgers-Newark a 12-6 lead.

A Lasell service error gave R-N 13 points, a Pieper ace put the Raiders on the brink and a Fredricks hammer sealed the victory - R-N's sixth in a row to start the year.

R-N jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one thanks to a pair of big runs, one of which turned a 13-13 tie into a 17-13 lead, and the other made it 20-15 after LC had trimmed the Rutgers lead to two.

In the second, Lasell ran out in front, but a 6-0 rally from the Raiders on the back of Kuti's serve turned a 7-5 deficit into an 11-7 advantage. A 4-0 run from Rutgers pushed the edge to eight at 20-12, and despite the Lasers getting within three late, R-N cruised to the 2-0 lead.

Lasell went on top 11-6 to begin the third, eventually winning the set, 25-17, and forced a fifth after taking a tight see-saw fourth, 25-23.

Rutgers-Newark finished the match with 62 kills, seven blocks, 53 assists and 41 digs. The Lasers had 58 kills, 10 aces, 10 blocks, 55 helpers and 42 scoops.

Pieper and Mintzer each had 14 kills with Kuti tallying 12, and McCandless dished out 50 assists. Senior libero Quocmy Nguyen had 10 digs, and Kuti (three), Mintzer (three) and Pieper (two) led the Rutgers-Newark blockers. The Raiders hit .349 overall, and Kuti hit an excellent .625 in racking up his 12 kills. Lasell finished with an attacking percentage of .271.

Rutgers-Newark 3, WIT 1 (25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19)
The Scarlet Raiders won all three sets by scores of 25-19 en route to their seventh win of the season, hitting a ridiculous .490 in the win. R-N tallied 64 kills and just 13 errors, totaling 74 points, three aces, seven blocks, 59 assists and 33 digs.

Mintzer led the way with 17 kills, Pieper had 16 and Kuti had 10, while Fredricks and Kuti each had three blocks. McCandless rang up 54 helpers, and Nguyen had a team-high 12 digs. Pieper, Chidsey, Fredricks, Kuti and Mintzer all had at least eight kills and all had an attacking percentage of .429 or better.

Facing an 18-17 deficit in the first, the Scarlet Raiders ran off eight of the final nine points to go on top 1-0. Mintzer had two kills in the run, Pieper and Kuti had blocks and Kuti pocketed a service ace.

In the second, R-N turned it on late again, scoring nine of the final 12 points to turn a 16-16 tie into a 25-19 set victory. Chidsey served the Raiders to their final three points of the set and Kuti, Pieper and Chidsey all had multiple kills in the 9-3 run.

A 4-1 run to close the third set for WIT (5-3) forced the Raiders to play one more, and they responded with 7-2 run midway through the fourth to change a two-point deficit (13-11) into an 18-15 lead. Wentworth would get within two but the Raiders slammed the door and received kills from Pieper and Mintzer to close it out.

Mintzer had an excellent 31 kills on the day and McCandless handed out 104 assists - eclipsing 50 in each match.