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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (April 6, 2016) – The nationally ranked No. 5 and defending Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Champions are hungry and ready to make a run at a second-straight title beginning Friday night when Rutgers University-Newark squares off with Marymount University in the CVC semifinals at 8 p.m.
 
The winner will play the winner of the first semifinal (6 p.m.) between fourth-seeded Juniata College and top-seeded Stevenson University on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship.
 
Last year, Rutgers-Newark went 11-1 in the conference and swept its matches in the semis and final to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. R-N then went on to advance to the National Quarterfinals, earning an NCAA win on Newark soil for the first time Rutgers-Newark Athletics history.
 
This year, the Scarlet Raiders are hoping to pull off a similar task away from The Golden Dome Arena following a spectacular regular-season. Rutgers-Newark went 23-2 during 2016, starting the year with a win over defending National Champion Stevens Institute of Technology and never looking back. Rutgers-Newark has been ranked among the nation's elite all season long and currently sits at No. 5 after ripping off six-straight wins to close the year – two of which were against nationally-ranked squads in Stevenson and then-No. 13 New York University.
 
The last team to defeat the Scarlet Raiders was their semifinal opponent Marymount University back on March 4. The Saints came back for a 3-2 victory over R-N, and the loss really seemed to spark the Raiders.
 
R-N's only other loss this season came against the host Mustangs in the first CVC match of the year for both sides, but the two met again on March 25 in Newark and the Scarlet Raiders rolled to a 3-0 sweep of the seventh-ranked team in the land.
 
Rutgers-Newark was able to defeat Juniata in both matches this season, sweeping the Eagles in Newark and coming back for a 3-2 victory last Friday night in Huntingdon, Pa.
 
When looking at the numbers, it is clear why the Scarlet Raiders have 23 wins in 25 outings as they hit an excellent .342 as a team while holding the opposition to a .194 hitting percentage. Rutgers-Newark has gone 71-18 in 99 sets played, out-pointing its foes 2,111-1,653.
 
A balanced team in all aspects, Rutgers-Newark boasts five players with more than 160 kills this season, four players with 19 or more aces and three with 100 or more digs. Six members of the roster have 35 or more rejections – paced by the 101 from junior middle Nick Kuti.
 
Rutgers-Newark is third in the nation and first in the CVC in hitting percentage, holding the same ranks when it comes to its .920 winning percentage. The team's 12.60 kills per set paces the CVC and is sixth nationally, while their 2.34 blocks per set are second in the league and eighth in the country. The Scarlet Raiders sit 10th in assists per set (third in the CVC), dishing out 11.57.
 
Individually, five different Scarlet Raiders crack the league's top-15 in hitting percentage as senior middle Cody Chidsey sits fourth in the country and No. 1 in the conference at .455. Kuti is 28th nationally and seventh in the conference (.354), and junior outside Jack Fredricks is eighth in the league and 45th overall at .325. Senior Travis Mintzer - who is coming back from injury - is second on the Raiders in kills per set (2.70), hitting .311 overall which has him 11th and eighth in the CVC in those metrics, respectively.
 
Senior setter Kevin McCandless is a major reason why the team hit .342 this season, checking in sixth in the country in assists per set at 10.52, and Kuti's blocking has him ranked No. 1 in the CVC and No. 4 in the nation. Sophomore outside Corey Peiper is 10th in the country in aces per set at .58 and senior libero Quocmy Nguyen – a great passer in his own right who helps the R-N hitting percentage in a huge way – recently cracked the top-50 nationally in digs per set at No. 48 (2.16).
 
Five Quick Hits
1. Rutgers-Newark has winning streaks of six (current), eight and nine matches this season.
2. The Scarlet Raiders have gone 5-1 against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-15
3. Corey Pieper (twice), Kevin McCandless and Cody Chidsey have all earned CVC Player of the Week honors this season
4. R-N has a remarkable 21-3 record in conference play since the start of last season.
5. After debuting in the AVCA poll at No. 8, Rutgers-Newark rose to No. 5 in Week 1 and has not dropped below No. 5 since.
 
Live stats and video to all matches can be accessed via the CVC Tournament Home Page or the Rutgers-Newark schedule, and tickets to the action each day are $5 for adults, $4 seniors and $2 for students (children under 12 years of age are free).
 
Tournament Seeding
No. 1 Stevenson (23-7) | Schedule | Stats
No. 2 Rutgers-Newark (23-2) | Schedule | Stats
No. 3 Marymount (19-10) | Schedule | Stats
No. 4 Juniata (10-15) | Schedule | Stats