Highlights

NEWARK, N.J. (March 31, 2017) – The nationally-ranked No. 9 Marymount University men's volleyball team defeated Rutgers University-Newark, 3-1, Friday night in The Golden Dome in a Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) match.
 
The Scarlet Raiders battled the Saints all night, fighting to force a fourth set, but eventually suffered the loss. Rutgers-Newark drops to 11-15 overall and 5-6 in the CVC and will host 11th-ranked Eastern Mennonite University Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Marymount moves to 11-1 in the conference and 17-7 overall.

The set scores were 25-23, 25-22, 19-25 and 25-20.
 
Marymount 25, Rutgers-Newark 23
After splitting the first six points in the match, Rutgers-Newark surged in front with six of the next seven, getting kills from junior Justin Sandy, junior Ricky Crumlish and junior Jalen Sorrell.
 
Marymount battled back to tie the set at 10, and the two teams were neck-and-neck before an ace from Crumlish – one of four for Rutgers in the set – gave the Raiders a slim 17-15 margin. The Saints tied things at 17, but back back-to-back winners from Sandy helped Rutgers regain the lead at 22-20. Unfortunately, Marymount was able to overcome the deficit, closing the set with five of the final six tallies to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Marymount 25, Rutgers-Newark 22
The Scarlet Raiders ripped off four-straight points to begin the second set, getting an ace from freshman Malik Patel to cap the surge. Another Crumlish ace helped Newark to a five-point lead (9-4), and a denial from Sandy and junior Dom Gutowski allowed R-N to open a set-best six-point edge (14-8).
 
Marymount was able to come back, tying things at 20 behind freshman Sam Safley and eventually closing the set on a 9-2 run for a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Marymount 19
The two teams split the first 10 points in the third, and the Saints held an 8-7 edge after 15 points. A combo-block from Sandy and Gutowski made it a 10-10 set, and a picture-perfect solo-block from Crumlish allowed Rutgers-Newark to open a 13-11 lead.
 
The hosts' advantage swelled to three (14-11, 15-12), and after the Saints trimmed the advantage to one, back-to-back errors allowed R-N to re-open the three-point working margin.
 
Sandy's fourth and fifth service aces of the match gave Rutgers-Newark set point at 24-19, and a Sandy kill locked up the 25-19 triumph in the third.
 
Marymount 25, Rutgers-Newark 20
The Saints took a 9-6 lead after 15 points in the fourth set of play, and after 25 tallies Marymount was up 15-10. An ace for junior Ben Steranka pushed the lead to six (17-11) moments later, but an ace and a kill from Crumlish quickly trimmed the Rutgers-Newark deficit to four.
 
Despite some momentum, four would be as close as the Scarlet Raiders would get, succumbing by a 25-20 final.
 
Crumlish tallied 18 kills and a .286 hitting percentage in the match, setting a new career-high and eclipsing 16 winners for the third time in four matches. He also had three aces, seven digs and five blocks. Sandy had 12 kills and 10 digs for a double-double, adding five aces and two blocks, while junior Corey Pieper had six kills and five digs. Freshman Jake Connors lifted 16 digs in a solid performance, with sophomore Brendon Frank tallying 41 assists and eight digs.
 
R-N held a 69-61 margin in points, totaling 47 kills, 12 blocks and 10 aces. Marymount had 48 kills, seven blocks and six aces, while the Raiders finished with 52 digs and 45 assists.
 
Statistically, it was a very even match, as the Scarlet Raiders hit .194 and the Saints converted at a .198 clip. Safley led Marymount with 12 kills and Jordan Pawlicki had 24 assists.
 
Saturday's match against EMU will mark the end to the home portion of 2017 Rutgers-Newark schedule, and those unable to make it to Newark can watch live at www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com/live.