READING, Pa. (January 27, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team completed its trip to Reading for the Alvernia Quad Match with a pair of victories today to finish the tournament a perfect 3-0 and improve to 4-1 on the season behind a three-game winning streak.

The Scarlet Raiders won a pair of 3-1 matches, defeating Loras College (4-1) in the morning and Lehman College (1-2) in the afternoon.

Rutgers-Newark 3, Loras 1 (25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20)
In their first match of the day, the Scarlet Raiders controlled the opening set, edged the Duhawks in the second, and rebounded from a tough third set to earn a 3-1 victory.

R-N was led by senior Corey Pieper who racked up a match-best 12 kills while rookie Kyle Loesner joined him in double-digits with 11. Senior Dom Gutowski contributed nine in addition to three blocks and a pair of service aces. On the defensive side, junior Arnan Romua racked up 16 digs and orchestrated the offense with 29 assists while sophomore Jake Connors matched his match-high with 16 digs.  

Rutgers-Newark 25, Loras 18
In the opening set, the Scarlet Raiders dropped the first point but reeled off the next four, punctuated by a kill from Gutowski, to take an early lead. As the game progressed a pair of kills by Pieper as well as three different teammates helped R-N slowly widen the gap to 13-6.

The closest Loras would get from there was 18-13 as Newark was able to maintain its advantage and finished off the set with big kills from rookies Loesner and Nicholas Arce-Cox before a block by the trio of Loesner, Arce-Cox, and junior Brendon Frank and an ace by Gutowski earned them a 25-18 win.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Loras 23
The second set stayed incredibly tight throughout as neither side could gain an edge of more than four points. A kill by Arce-Cox made it 14-10 in favor of the Raiders but the Duhawks rallied with a 6-1 spurt to take a slight 16-15 advantage.

From that point on, the teams were tied and the lead changed hands an incredible 10 times. Trailing 21-20, Rutgers-Newark took a crucial timeout. Following the break, the Scarlet Raiders reeled off four consecutive points featuring kills from Loesner and Frank bookending two huge blocks. While Loras was able to draw within one, another timeout by Newark paid off as Frank closed out the game with a huge kill to take the 25-23 victory and a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Loras 25, Rutgers-Newark 19
In the third game, the Raiders stayed close throughout but never led. A kill by Gutowski knotted the set at 9-9 but the Duhawks netted the next three points and never conceded their advantage from there.

A Loesner kill had R-N within 21-18 but Loras won four of the final five points to take the set and cut its deficit for the match to 2-1.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Loras 20
Five ties and five lead changes defined the first half of the final game as the sides battled back-and-forth. Loras earned the last deadlock of the match when two consecutive points made it 12-12. Still, a kill by Gutowski sparked a quick three-point spurt for Newark to make it 15-12.

Arce-Cox would lead another three-point surge with a kill that widened the Scarlet Raiders advantage to 18-13 as his side maintained that edge to secure a 25-20 set win and 3-1 victory for the match.

Rutgers-Newark 3, Lehman 1 (25-22, 25-14, 22-25, 25-19)
In their final contest at Alvernia, the Scarlet Raiders earned another 3-1 victory after picking up a commanding 2-0 lead and rebounding from a close third set loss to take the match.

Newark was led by Pieper who had a huge afternoon, racking up a season-best 18 kills on an incredible .517 hitting percentage while adding eight digs and a service ace. Senior Jalen Sorrell and classmate Justin Sandy chipped in eight and seven kills, respectively. Connors contributed a team-high nine digs while Romua totaled 27 assists and freshman Travis Emenaker added 18 helpers.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Lehman 22
The opening set featured seven ties and seven lead changes as the two teams were locked in a see-saw battle. The last deadlock came when the Lightning made it 19-19 but the Scarlet Raiders would soon turn the tide. Featuring a pair of kills by Emenaker, R-N reeled off five consecutive points to create a 24-19 edge as it held on for a first game victory.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Lehman 14
Starting the second set strong, Rutgers-Newark won five of the first six points and never looked back. Leading 19-13, the Raiders ended the game in convincing fashion, winning six of the last seven points including kills by senior Ricky Crumlish and Pieper to take a 2-0 lead.

Lehman 25, Rutgers-Newark 22
The third game featured a remarkable 13 ties and 13 lead changes as neither team could grab an edge. With the score deadlocked at 21-21, Lehman finally gained some breathing room by winning three straight points and held on to edge R-N and halve its deficit to 2-1.

Rutgers-Newark 25, Lehman 19
The Lightning looked to carry their momentum into the fourth set as they won the first three points. Still, the Scarlet Raiders responded right back a kill by Pieper and ace from Frank helped knot the score at 3-3.

From there, the teams traded the lead four more times but Newark began to pull away slightly from an 8-8 tie, taking four of the next five points to open up a 12-9 advantage. While Lehman was able to close the gap to 15-13, a trio of kills from Pieper fueled a 4-1 spurt that put R-N in front by a tally of 19-14.  

The Lightning would get no closer than four the rest of the way as the Raiders claimed a 25-19 win in the set and 3-1 victory for the match.

Rutgers-Newark returns to action when it hosts Neumann University in The Golden Dome on Thursday night at 7 p.m.