NOTE: Errors in the box score will be corrected as soon as possible Thursday and re-posted
 
HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 22, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team was topped by nationally-ranked No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-1, Wednesday night in Canavan Arena.
 
The Scarlet Raiders drop to 3-9 overall, while Stevens moves to 12-2, and Rutgers-Newark will travel to Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) foes Marymount University and Eastern Mennonite University for key league matches Friday and Saturday.
 
After falling behind 2-0, Rutgers-Newark battled and showed a great deal of resiliency in the third and fourth sets of action.
 
"We played a very talented team today, one of the top teams in the nation, and I was pleased with some of the things we did," said Head Coach Pedro Trevino. "I saw some guys step in and play well and hopefully we continue to improve. If we keep working hard and don't give up easy points, I think we will be able to build off a match like this."
 
The set scores were 25-13, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-15.
 
Stevens 25, Rutgers-Newark 13
The Scarlet Raiders jumped out to an early 2-1 lead keyed by a kill from junior Dom Gutowski, but an 11-0 run for the Ducks gave the hosts a 12-2 lead.
 
Rutgers-Newark battled, trimming an 18-5 deficit to eight (18-10), but Stevens scored 7-of-10 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Stevens 25, Rutgers-Newark 18
Junior Justin Sandy put down a kill to give Newark an early edge (2-1), but an 8-1 Stevens run quickly turned the momentum against the guests. The Ducks eventually doubled up R-N following a winner from freshman David Lehman, and the hosts were able to close out to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Stevens 22
A kill from junior Ricky Crumlish keyed a 3-0 run to start the third set for Rutgers-Newark, and after the Ducks fought within one, junior outside Corey Pieper delivered a hammer for a 5-3 lead. The lead moved to 7-3 on the back of a Gutowski rejection, but the Ducks countered to take a 9-8 lead.
 
Two Crumlish kills and a combo block from junior Jalen Sorrell and Crumlish keyed a 6-0 Newark run to swing the momentum, and Rutgers-Newark remained in control, forcing a fourth set. Sorrell and freshman outside Malik Patel had kills down the stretch, with Patel and Gutowski serving clutch aces.
 
Stevens 25, Rutgers-Newark 15
It was Stevens jumping out in front early in the fourth, but a very resilient Rutgers-Newark squad battled back to tie the score at seven with kills from Patel and Pieper.
 
The two sides would go point-for-point over the next few moments, but Stevens caught fire late, turning a 13-13 tie into a 25-15 win to clinch the match.
 
Pieper and Crumlish led the Scarlet Raiders with eight kills each, while Patel added four. Gutowski, Pieper and Sorrell all notched two blocks, while sophomore Brendon Frank pocketed 25 assists. Freshman Jake Connors lifted a team-high seven digs, with Pieper (six) and Frank (five) chipping in as well.
 
R-N hit .031 in the match, totaling 37 points, 29 kills, two aces, six blocks, 28 helpers and 28 digs. Stevens hit .275 with 59 points, 48 kills, seven aces, four blocks, 44 assists and 26 digs. Dylan DeBoer and Lehman led the Ducks with a combined 27 kills.