NEWARK, N.J. (January 31, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team took a hard-fought match against non-conference opponent Baruch College in The Golden Dome tonight, 3-2 (23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13). The Scarlet Raiders improve to 3-2 while the Bearcats drop to 1-4.

Rutgers-Newark was led by freshman Elan Dorkhman who racked up a match-high 16 kills and recorded a double-double by contributing a team-best 14 digs. Senior Brendon Frank and sophomore Nicholas Arce-Cox joined him in double-figure kills with 11 apiece. Arce-Cox added an incredible 10 block assists while junior Jake Connors had 14 digs and senior Arnan Romua orchestrated the offense with 41 helpers.

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they begin Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) play at Immaculata University with a 7 p.m. start.

The sides played a hotly-contested opening set as neither team could gain a significant edge. The largest lead by either squad during the game was just two points.

The Bearcats maintained a slim advantage early in the set but the Raiders claimed their first lead on a quick three-point run that featured a pair of kills from Loesner to make it 11-10. Still, R-N would not find themselves in front for the remainder of the stanza.

Baruch held a one or two-point edge for the majority of the first and, despite a tie at 21-21, managed to close out the set with a 25-23 win.  

The second set had a different tenor as the hosts won the first three points and jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage behind kills from sophomore Kyle Loesner, Frank, Arce-Cox, and Dorkhman.

The Scarlet Raiders largely maintained that six-point edge as they found themselves leading 18-12 in a stretch that included a pair of spikes from both Loesner and Dorkhman.

After the Bearcats got a point back, Rutgers-Newark closed out the stanza on a 7-2 surge that featured winners from three different players, punctuated by Arce-Cox to clinch the 25-15 win and even the match at 1-1.

In a pivotal third set, it was the visitors that took an early 5-1 lead. Baruch largely maintained that four-point edge, expanding it to as many as six points when an ace made it 13-7.

R-N tried to trim its deficit but still found themselves down 20-15 late in the game. A tough rally back began on an authoritative Arce-Cox spike. That kill sparked a 9-2 surge that forced a Bearcats' timeout after the hosts claimed a 24-22 lead.

Nicholas Godino cut his side's deficit to one after that break, however Dorkhman completed the rally with a winner to seal the game 25-23 and put his squad up 2-1.

The fourth set began on the same trajectory as the first as the teams battled back-and-forth for an edge. The game featured 10 ties and lead changes with the last deadlock coming at 15-15.

Unfortunately, Baruch slowly created a gap as the visitors built a 22-18 lead.

The Raiders cut that deficit in half, but it wouldn't be enough as the Bearcats closed out the stanza with a 25-20 win and evened the match at 2-2.

Rutgers-Newark started the fifth and final set on fire, taking the first four points that included a pair of winners from rookie Arvind Kumar.

Still, the Bearcats fought back quickly and soon had the game knotted at 5-5.

The Scarlet Raiders earned the next two points and picked up a 10-7 edge that featured two kills from Frank during that stretch. However, Baruch would not back down and rallied to a 10-10 tie before taking a slim 13-12 lead.

Rutgers-Newark, with its backs against the wall, finally closed out the match. The hosts took the last three points, including winners from Kumar and Frank to take the stanza 15-13 and earn the victory for the match 3-2.