NEWARK, N.J. (February 10, 2017) – Nationally-ranked No. 14 Juniata College topped the Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team 3-0 Friday night in The Golden Dome.
 
The Scarlet Raiders fall to 1-7 overall and 0-1 in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC), while Juniata moves to 6-4 overall and 1-0 in the league. Rutgers-Newark will have a chance to bounce back quickly as the Raiders welcome Thiel College to 'The Dome' Saturday at 2 p.m. for another CVC showdown.
 
The set scores Friday night were 25-10, 25-21 and 28-26 as Rutgers-Newark played better and better as the match progressed.
 
Juniata 25, Rutgers-Newark 10
Juniata scored 7-of-10 to start the match, extending the edge to seven (10-3) and forcing a timeout from Scarlet Raider Head Coach Pedro Trevino. The two teams traded tallies, with Newark getting a pair of kills from junior outside Ricky Crumlish, but Juniata was able to keep a comfortable working margin and closed out the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Juniata 25, Rutgers-Newark 21
Rutgers-Newark took an early 5-3 lead in the second thanks to kills from junior outside Corey Pieper, junior middle Jalen Sorrell and Crumlish. Later, a block from Pieper and Sorrell, an ace from Pieper and a winner from Pieper upped the R-N lead to 8-4.
 
An ace from sophomore opposite/setter Frank pushed Scarlet Raider advantage to five (11-6), but the Eagles rallied to tie the score at 15-all.
 
Newark answered in the form of back-to-back kills from Frank, but the Eagles took control late, outscoring Rutgers-Newark 10-4 down the stretch to go on top 2-0.
 
Juniata 28, Rutgers-Newark 26
Rutgers-Newark doubled up the Eagles 6-3 early in the third, getting combo-blocks from Sorrell and Frank, and an ace from Sorrell made the score 8-4 Scarlet Raiders.
 
A kill from Crumlish put the Scarlet Raiders back up four (13-9) after Juniata had trimmed the lead to one, and kills from Pieper and Sandy forced an Eagle timeout with the scoreboard showing 18-14 in favor of Newark.
 
A thunderous kill from Sandy gave Rutgers-Newark set point at 24-22, but Juniata rallied to tie at 24 and picked up their first match point at 26-25. The teams would trade markers, but an Eagle block gave the guests a 28-26 set-three win to close out the 3-0 match triumph.
 
Sandy put down nine kills and totaled two digs, and Pieper had eight kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace. Sorrell had five kills (.364) and four blocks, while Crumlish had six kills. Freshman libero Jake Connors totaled six digs, and sophomore Brendon Frank had a team-high 17 assists to go with three digs and two kills. Freshman middle Max Winstanley was solid off the bench, totaling three kills and a hitting percentage of .600.
 
Rutgers-Newark finished the match with a hitting percentage of .169, posting 41 points, 33 kills, 28 assists, four aces and four total blocks. Juniata had a hitting percentage of .425, ending the contest with 55 points, 44 kills, five aces, six blocks, 42 helpers and 30 digs.
 
Veteran middle Kyle Seeley led the way for the Eagles with 14 kills (.647) and three blocks.