HARRISONBURG, Va. (February 25, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team earned a split on Saturday, falling 3-1 to ninth-ranked Eastern Mennonite University, but bouncing back to sweep Bard College, 3-0.
 
Rutgers-Newark is now 2-4 in the Continental Volleyball Conference and 4-11 overall. The Scarlet Raiders will return to action February 28 against New Jersey City University in The Golden Dome. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.
 
Eastern Mennonite 3, Rutgers-Newark 1 (25-16, 25-19, 13-25, 25-12)
EMU 25, Rutgers-Newark 16
A kill from junior Corey Pieper staked Rutgers-Newark to an early 3-0 edge, but the hosts responded with eight of the next nine tallies to open an 8-4 lead. Junior Ricky Crumlish put down a pair of winners, helping the guests within one (9-8), but an 8-3 rally for Eastern Mennonite allowed the Royals to take a 17-11 advantage.
 
A kill from junior Justin Sandy and two Mennonite mistakes helped Newark to trim the lead to three (18-15), but EMU (11-4, 5-0 CVC) closed the set on a 6-0 run to take a 1-0 lead.
 
EMU 25, Rutgers-Newark 19
Eastern Mennonite doubled up the Scarlet Raiders 10-5 in the second, but kills from Crumlish and Sandy allowed the Raiders to stay within striking distance at 13-9. The deficit swelled to six (17-11), with Newark clawing back behind a Sandy kill, Pieper ace and a block from junior Jalen Sorrell and Sandy to get within one (19-18). Like the first set, EMU was able to close strong, this time on a 6-1 run to open a 2-0 match lead.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, EMU 13
The Scarlet Raiders came out of the gate strong in the third, scoring 6-of-8 on the back of a Pieper ace and kills from Sandy, Sorrell and junior Dom Gutowski. Rutgers-Newark extended late with a big-time rally, outscoring EMU 11-2 behind two kills apiece from Sorrell and Pieper to lead 21-9 after 30 points. Sandy gave the Scarlet Raiders set point at 24-12, and a service error handed R-N the win and a chance at a fourth set.
 
EMU 25, Rutgers-Newark 12
It was EMU coming out strong in the fourth, taking a 3-0 lead early and opening a 9-1 margin after 10 points. The lead moved to 11 (16-5) but back-to-back blocks from Sandy and Gutowski as part of a 3-0 run allowed the Scarlet Raiders to get within eight points at (16-8). Eight would be as close as R-N could get as the Royals closed things out for the CVC win.
 
Crumlish led the Scarlet Raiders with eight kills and nine digs, and Sandy had five kills, five blocks and three digs. Pieper had five kills, four digs and two aces, with Sorrell getting five kills and three rejections. Sophomore Brendon Frank had 24 assists, and freshman libero Jake Connors lifted nine digs and added three helpers.
 
R-N hit .121 in the match, compared to a .265 mark for EMU. The Scarlet Raiders totaled 31 kills, 28 assists, 29 digs and seven total blocks, while the Royals pocketed 49 kills, 47 helpers, 41 digs and seven blocks.
 
Rutgers-Newark 3, Bard 0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-15)
The Scarlet Raiders dominated the first set, getting eight kills from Pieper, three from Crumlish and two from Gutowski, adding four service aces and four total blocks as a team in the 25-11 triumph. The team hit .478 in the set, totaling 13 winners, just two errors and 11 assists..
 
The second set was back-and-forth until a 6-0 run for Rutgers-Newark turned a 10-10 tie into a 16-10 lead. Crumlish had two aces in the run, with Gutowski and Pieper picking up kills. Bard (3-13 overall) rallied back to get within one point (17-16), but two aces from Frank, two kills from Crumlish and single winners from Sandy and Pieper propelled the Raiders to a 2-0 lead.
 
BC came out with 6-of-8 to begin the third, but Rutgers-Newark came back quickly, tying the score 9-9 with a Crumlish kill and opening an 11-9 edge thanks to two errors. A Sorrell and Crumlish block extended the Newark lead (16-12), and after Bard trimmed the margin to two at 17-15, R-N sealed the win by scoring eight-straight points. Crumlish, sophomore Arnan Romua and freshman Malik Patel all put down hammers in the match-clinching run.
 
The Scarlet Raiders totaled 36 kills and a .319 hitting percentage in the win, tallying eight total blocks, 10 aces and 29 assists. Bard hit -.077 as the R-N defense limited the Raptors to just 16 kills and 16 assists in the entire match.
 
Pieper had 17 kills (.481) to pace the Scarlet Raiders in the nightcap, adding two blocks, two digs and two aces, while Crumlish had eight kills and four aces. Gutowski had six winners and three blocks. Connors lifted nine digs and Sandy had seven, with Frank leading the passers with 18 assists, two aces and two blocks.