NEWARK, N.J. (March 4, 2016) - The fourth-ranked Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team saw its nine-match winning streak stopped by Marymount University Friday night in The Golden Dome Arena.

The Saints won the five-set thriller by set scores of 18-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-27 and 15-13, giving the Scarlet Raiders their first loss since February 6. It also was the first time Rutgers-Newark played a five-set match since it defeated then-No. 3 Nazareth College, 3-2.

The loss drops the Scarlet Raiders to 5-2 in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) and 17-2 overall. Marymount improves to 5-2 in the conference and 12-6 overall, but the Scarlet Raiders hold on to second place in the conference standings due to tiebreaker rules (conference sets played).

Rutgers-Newark 25, Marymount 18
After the Saints tallied the first point of the match, the Scarlet Raiders ran off four in a row to take a 4-1 margin as senior middle Nick Kuti did the serving and sophomore opposite Francisco Bruno pocketed a kill.

Marymount came back to get within one point on several occasions, but an 11-9 margin moved to 17-11 thanks to a 6-2 spurt from the Scarlet Raiders that featured several big-time kills from junior outside Jack Fredricks who had seven in the first set.

Despite facing a six-point deficit, the Saints battled back within two at 19-17 and forced the Scarlet Raiders to call timeout. One more point from Marymount out of the break made it a one-point set, but a kill from sophomore outside Corey Pieper slowed the momentum and sparked a dominating 6-0 rally to close the set. Kuti did the serving and picked up another ace, with senior setter Kevin McCandless and senior middle Cody Chidsey putting down kills.

Marymount 26, Rutgers-Newark 24
The Scarlet Raiders were able to hold a slim working margin for the opening stages of the second set, before a 3-0 run from Marymount tied things at 12.

The Scarlet Raiders responded, going back up two (14-12), but a back-and-forth set continued with ties at 16, 17, 18 and 19 before back-to-back Marymount points made it 21-19. Newark came back to tie on the strength of another Fredricks kill and big-time Fredricks solo block.

R-N went up one (22-21) after a Saint error, but three-straight guest tallies gave the Saints their first set point of the match. A Kuti kill and Bruno-Kuti block tied it back up for Newark, but Marymount closed things out to tie the match at one apiece.

Marymount 25, Rutgers-Newark 20
It was Marymount that took the upper hand early in the third, jumping on top 4-1, but the Scarlet Raiders roared back to tie the score at five, and the sides traded points before the Saints went back up two at 11-9 and forced a timeout leading 14-11.

The Saints extended the edge, leading by as many as five (20-15, 22-17), eventually closing out the third with a kill from sophomore middle Graham Clark.

Rutgers-Newark 26, Marymount 24
The Raiders responded early in the fourth set, opening a 4-1 lead after a combo block (sophomore outside Justin Sandy and Chidsey) and a Sandy hammer. A Marymount timeout failed to slow the momentum as Fredricks and Chidsey kills helped the edge move to six (9-3), with R-N holding a 10-5 lead after 15 points.

Marymount responded, outscoring Newark 10-4 to take its first lead of the set at 15-14, and Newark regained control after back-to-back Marymount errors made it 20-18 R-N. The see-saw continued, but it was the Scarlet Raiders that earned the set win, getting three huge plays on defense in one sequence before a Fredricks kill and Kuti-Fredricks block gave the hosts a 26-24 victory.

Marymount 15, Rutgers-Newark 13
R-N ran out to a 3-1 lead, but the Saints scored 5-of-8 to take a 6-4 margin and led 8-5 at the switch. Rutgers clawed back, getting a kill from Fredricks and a Marymount error to get within one (10-9), eventually tying things at 12 following a Bruno-Chidsey rejection at the net.

Kuti's third and final ace of the match looked to be exactly what the Scarlet Raiders needed, but Marymount prevailed, getting two blocks from Clark to end it.

Rutgers-Newark finished the match with 81 points, 69 kills, three aces - all from Kuti - nine blocks, 66 assists and 36 digs. Marymount had 84.5 points, 66 kills, seven aces, 11 blocks, 61 helpers and 32 digs.

The two teams were extremely close in attacking percentage as the Scarlet Raiders held a slight .336-.333 edge in that stat.

Fredricks had a monster match, putting down 22 kills (.471) with three digs, and Chidsey had 21 hammers (.484), two blocks and two digs. Kuti had 13 kills (.375), five blocks and three digs, while Bruno had seven kills (.333) and three blocks. Sophomore outside Justin Sandy had a team-high nine digs and three kills, and senior libero Quocmy Nguyen had seven digs. McCandless dished out 62 assists, adding two kills and four digs for good measure.

Four Saintssecured double-digit kills, with sophomore middle Graham Clark finishing with 14 and a match-high eight blocks. Junior middle Tomasz Ksiazkiewicz had a team-high 16 kills, and sophomore opposite TJ Wiechecki had 12 kills.

The Scarlet Raiders will look to get back into the win column Saturday in The Dome when they host CVC rival Eastern Mennonite University at 2 p.m.