READING, Pa. (January 26, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team kicked off its road schedule with the first of three matches at the Alvernia University Quad Match tonight. The Scarlet Raiders swept host Alvernia as they improve to 2-1 while the Golden Wolves fall to 1-3 early in the 2018 campaign for both teams.

R-N led comfortably for the majority of the evening en route to its 3-0 victory by set scores of 25-15, 25-16, and 25-19.

The Scarlet Raiders were led by a strong offensive performance that featured a .317 hitting percentage to -.012 for the hosts. A trio of seniors led that offense with Ricky Crumlish earning 10 kills, Corey Pieper adding eight, and Justin Sandy contributing six. Pieper recorded a match-best eight digs while Crumlish chipped in a squad-high four blocks.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Alvernia 15
After trailing briefly very early in the set, the visitors quickly took control turning a 2-1 deficit into a 12-4 advantage by winning 11 of 13 points. Rookie Travis Emenaker and Crumlish each grabbed a kill during the surge.

The Golden Wolves drew within six at 21-15 but kills by Crumlish and Sandy helped the Scarlet Raiders close out the set with a comfortable 25-15 win.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Alvernia 16
The second game was much tighter in the beginning as the two sides were tied six times and traded the lead on six occasions. Pieper broke that last deadlock with a kill but Alvernia remained close as the home team trailed just 13-11. Still, Pieper quickly helped his team extend that advantage, netting two service aces and another kill as R-N rattled off five consecutive points.

The Golden Wolves would get no closer than five points for the remainder of the set while a pair of Crumlish kills guided the visitors to a 25-16 victory.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Alvernia 19
The final set followed a very similar pattern to the second game as the teams battled back-and-forth early. Newark had a slight edge at 9-8 but began to pull away a little as the set wore on. Kills by Pieper and Crumlish in addition to a big block from Emenaker and senior Dom Gutowski helped widen the gap to 19-13.

While the Golden Wolves were able to draw within four points, a kill from Sandy and match-ending ace by Pieper sealed the hosts fate as the Scarlet Raiders took the game 25-19 and the match 3-0.

Rutgers-Newark returns to action tomorrow morning as it faces Loras at 10 a.m. before closing out the trip against Lehman at 2 p.m.