ARLINGTON, Va. (March 30, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of nationally-ranked No. 6 Marymount University Friday night in Arlington.
 
The Scarlet Raiders – in a brutal stretch of four road matches in five days and three-straight road matches against nationally-ranked teams – fall to 7-4 in the Continental Volleyball Conference and 17-6 overall. Newark will visit No. 12 and CVC foe Southern Virginia Saturday afternoon. Marymount improves to 19-6 overall and 10-2 in league play.
 
Friday's set scores were 25-18, 25-14 and 25-23.
 
The Scarlet Raiders totaled 28 points on 23 kills, four blocks and one ace, posting 22 assists and 18 digs. The Saints racked up 59 points on 51 kills, five aces and three blocks, dishing out 48 assists and lifting 36 digs.
 
Senior Corey Pieper led the Scarlet Raiders with eight kills, four digs and one ace, and senior Ricky Crumlish had five kills and three digs. Senior Dom Gutowski (three) and junior Brendon Frank (two) had multiple blocks, with junior Arnan Romua (13) and Pieper (nine) leading the passers. Sophomore libero Jake Connors lifted a team-best five digs.
 
A Crumlish-Gutowski block gave the Scarlet Raiders a 9-8 lead early in the first, but a 5-1 run for the hosts made it a 13-10 set. Despite R-N's best efforts, a late 4-1 spurt for Marymount pushed the lead to five (21-16) and the Scarlet Raiders could not recover.
 
Marymount scored 5-of-6 to open the second, and another 5-1 run late made the score 21-12 after 33 tallies as the Saints were able to comfortably take a 2-0 lead.
 
Facing a steep 2-0 hole, the Scarlet Raiders could have folded in the third, but they did not, fighting valiantly until the final point.
 
A Frank solo denial gave Rutgers a 6-5 edge, and after Marymount regained the lead, the Scarlet Raiders refused to go away. Trailing 20-17, kills from senior Justin Sandy and Gutowski pulled Rutgers-Newark within one, and back-to-back Marymount errors tied the score at 21-all. Unfortunately, the Scarlet Raiders could not get over the hump, eventually succumbing 25-23.
 
Despite two tough losses to two top-six teams in the nation, Rutgers-Newark has already clinched a spot in the upcoming CVC Tournament and will most likely host Ramapo College in the opening round of the tournament in a couple weeks.
 
Saturday's league match at No. 12 SVU is slated for a 2 p.m. start.