NEWARK, N.J. (January 20, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team split a pair of matches to open its 2018 season Saturday in The Golden Dome Invitational.
 
The Scarlet Raiders erased a 2-0 deficit to Elmira College to open the day with a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Soaring Eagles. However, R-N dropped its second match to nationally ranked No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-0.
 
In other tournament action, Stevens swept Ramapo 3-0, and Elmira topped Ramapo in a five-set thriller (3-2).
 
Rutgers-Newark will hit the road for three matches next weekend in the Alvernia Tournament before returning to The Golden Dome February 1 for its Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) opener against Neumann University.
 
Rutgers-Newark 3, Elmira 2 (20-25, 25-27, 25-12, 25-23, 16-14)
After falling behind 8-7 at the switch and 10-7 moments later, Rutgers-Newark rallied to complete an exceptional comeback in its first match of the year.
 
Junior Brendon Frank came through with back-to-back kills to tie the fifth set at 12, and after Elmira gave itself match point at 14-12, a Frank winner and Soaring Eagle error knotted things at 14. Senior Ricky Crumlish was next, putting down a spike to give the Scarlet Raiders match point, and freshmen David Mrowko and Travis Emenaker blocked the ensuing Elmira attack to clinch the unlikely comeback win.
 
Frank led the Scarlet Raiders with 14 kills and a .250 hitting percentage, adding eight digs to his line, while Crumlish pocketed a double-double of 13 kills, 14 digs, two block solos and two aces. Senior Corey Pieper had nine kills, 13 digs and two aces, with sophomore libero Jake Connors lifting 13 digs. Emenaker (18) and junior Arnan Romua (22) combined for 40 assists in the match, with Emenaker picking up eight digs for good measure.
 
Elmira 25, Rutgers-Newark 20
The Scarlet Raiders took a 9-6 lead after 15 points, with the Soaring Eagles running of 10 of the next 15 to open a 16-14 edge after 30 tallies. R-N sliced the lead to one on four occasions but Elmira was able to close out the 25-20 opening-set victory.
 
Elmira 27, Rutgers-Newark 25
The Soaring Eagles took the upper hand early in the second, but Rutgers-Newark tied things at 10-all. Freshman Nicholas Arce-Cox delivered an ace to give the hosts a 13-12 edge, and an ace for senior Corey Pieper put Newark up 15-13.
 
A kill for the Soaring Eagles tied things at 18 and they opened a 23-21 edge late in the set, but Newark again came back, tying things at 24 thanks to an EC error and a winner from senior middle Dom Gutowski. Crumlish delivered a spike to bring up set point for the Scarlet Raiders, but a pair of errors and an Elmira denial made it a 2-0 match in favor of the guests.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Elmira 12
Two solo blocks and two aces from Crumlish and two hammers from Frank staked Rutgers to a 7-2 lead to open the third. Frank kept the momentum going, putting down two more kills to make it a 12-4 set in favor of the Raiders.
 
R-N kept rolling, leading 16-4 after 20 scores and cruising to the eventual 25-12 triumph.
 
Rutgers-Newark 25, Elmira 23
The two sides split the first 10 points, and a kill from Pieper gave Rutgers-Newark an 11-9 margin after 20 tallies. Elmira countered to take a 13-12 advantage, and the see-saw continued with back-to-back winners from Pieper and Arce-Cox putting the hosts up 19-17. Arce-Cox scored again for Newark to give the hosts a four-point margin, and after Elmira battled to get within one, Pieper put down a winner to force the fifth and final set.
 
Rutgers-Newark totaled 65 points on 51 kills, seven aces and seven blocks, adding 48 assists and 61 total digs. Newark hit .164 for the match, and converted at a set-high clip of .250 in the fourth.
 
Elmira hit .183, totaling 76 points on 61 kills, two aces and 13 denials. The Soaring Eagles racked up 55 assists and 65 digs, getting 19 kills from veteran Ryan McDonough and 15 from Dan Symer. Setter Jeremy Best posted 44 assists in the loss.
 
No. 2 Stevens 3, Rutgers-Newark 0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-17)
After a grueling five-setter over Elmira, the Scarlet Raiders squared off with the second-ranked team in the nation, falling in three sets. R-N battled the Ducks hard early, but Stevens was able to do what it needed to earn the sweep.
 
Frank led Rutgers-Newark with eight kills and a sparkling .417 hitting percentage, while Sandy picked up seven kills and three digs. Arce-Cox registered five winners as eight different Scarlet Raiders tallied at least one kill.
 
Four Stevens players had seven kills or more, and the Ducks were led by eight kills, three digs, two aces and two blocks from veteran Gabe Shankweiler.
 
R-N posted team totals of 34 points, 30 kills, two aces and two blocks, notching 29 assists and 20 digs. Stevens had 48 points thanks to 35 winners, two aces and 11 denials. The Ducks hit .412 in the match, and R-N finished at -.024.
 
Sophomore Warren Hilliard pocketed both Newark aces, Romua (15) and Emenaker (11) combined for 26 assists, and Connors lifted a team-high six digs.