HUNTINGDON, Pa. (February 9, 2019) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's volleyball team dropped a tough road matchup with 15^th-ranked Juniata College in Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) play, 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 26-24). The Scarlet Raiders move to 4-3 (1-1 CVC) while the Eagles improve to 6-1 (1-1 CVC).

Rutgers-Newark was led by rookie Elan Dorkhman who had a season-best 15 kills and a team-best .265 attacking percentage. Classmate Arvind Kumar contributed 13 kills and eight digs while sophomore Kyle Loesner added 11 winners. Junior Jake Connors led the squad with 13 digs. Senior Arnan Romua and sophomore Travis Emenaker facilitated the offense with 26 and 19 assists, respectively.

The Raiders look to bounce back when they head to no. 7 Kean for a CVC matchup on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

There were three ties and three lead changes early in the first set as the sides battled for control. R-N claimed a 3-1 lead behind a kill from Brendon Frank and ace by Elan Dorkhman. Juniata made it 3-3 but a Dorkhman winner helped the Raiders back in front. Still, that edge would be short-lived as well as the Eagles won the next four point to take a 7-5 lead.

The hosts looked to pull away as they built an 18-12 advantage, but Newark rallied back. Arvind Kumar contributed a pair of spikes and Kyle Loesner added a kill as the visitors closed to within two points. Unfortunately, that was the closest the Raiders would get as the Eagles won the next three points and finished off the set 25-20.

In the second game, Juniata jumped to a 19-9 lead. R-N fought back with six consecutive points behind three winners from Loesner and a pair of aces by Travis Emenaker. Still, that rally would not be enough as the Eagles made it 2-0 with a 25-18 set win.

The third stanza was by far the most competitive, featuring 10 ties and 10 lead changes. With the game even at 9-9, the Scarlet Raiders looked to get some breathing room. Dorkhman began a 5-0 surge with a kill and ended the run with two more as the visitors earned a 14-9 advantage. Still, the Eagles fought right back and soon had the score tied back up.

That would continue until 19-19 when Dorkhman again created the gap with a pair of winners to make it 21-19. Juniata got a point back but Dorkhman started a 3-0 spurt that helped put the set away for Rutgers-Newark, 25-21.

The Scarlet Raiders continued their momentum into the fourth, beginning the stanza with six straight points. Winners by three different players and an ace boosted the visitors during that stretch.

Still, Juniata began chipping away at its deficit. The Eagles cut the lead down to three at one point and hung around throughout the set.

A big kill by Loesner had the visitors up 19-15 but that lead would soon evaporate as the hosts knotted the score at 21-21.

Dorkhman responded for R-N with a winner and ace however the Eagles evened things right back up.

Unfortunately, the Raiders' last lead came at 24-23 as Juniata took the last three points to win the set 26-24 and the match 3-1.