(STORY COURTESY OF RUTGERS-NEWARK SPORTS INFORMATION)

The Rutgers-Newark men's volleyball team is the champion of the Continental Volleyball Conference. The Scarlet Raiders swept Stevenson University 3-0 in the title match Saturday evening to earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.
 
Junior setter Kevin McCandless was named the Most Valuable Player of the CVC Tournament, and joining him on the 2015 All-Tournament team were sophomore outside Jack Fredricks and junior opposite Travis Mintzer.
 
The top-seeded and 14th ranked Scarlet Raiders won by set scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-23, improving to 21-8 overall. Second-seeded Stevenson dropped to 17-14 overall.
 

The title and automatic berth into the national tournament will be the first for the Scarlet Raiders as 2015 is their first year as a member of NCAA Division III. This is the fifth team berth in the last 10 years for a Rutgers-Newark program. Men's basketball and men's soccer have each received berths to the NCAA Tournament, but the 2015 CVC crown and NCAA bid is the first a Scarlet Raider team has won at home.
 
The Scarlet Raiders hit .323 for the match, keyed by 40 assists and 11 digs from McCandless in a double-double performance. The junior also added three block assists in an excellent all-around performance.
 
Fredricks – a 6-1 outside from East Brunswick, N.J. – was excellent as well, converting 16 kills with a .609 hitting percentage and adding four block assists to his line. Mintzer tallied 12 kills and 10 digs for a double-double, and sophomore middle Nick Kuti had 10 kills (.600), five total blocks and two assists. Senior outside Alex Barnhard went for seven kills (.353) and seven digs, and junior libero Quocmy Nguyen finished with nine digs and three assists.
 
In the first set, Rutgers-Newark raced out to an early 6-2 lead with Mintzer recording a trio of early kills to spark the Raiders. Stevenson clawed back, tying things at 11 with a 9-5 run and eventually took a 16-14 edge behind senior David Moler.
 
Down two (16-14), Rutgers-Newark ripped off four-straight points with Mintzer serving to take an 18-16 lead, and after the guests trimmed the lead to one, R-N closed the set on a 7-4 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Mintzer clinched it with a kill, with Fredericks and Kuti both making big plays for the Raiders.
 
The second set was tight in the early stages, and a 6-1 run for the Mustangs turned a 9-9 tie into a 15-10 deficit Rutgers-Newark. R-N Head Coach Pedro Trevino elected to not call a timeout, and his team responded, running off three-straight points to get within two (15-13). Stevenson slowed the Rutgers-Newark momentum briefly, taking a 17-14 lead, but the Raiders answered and erupted on a monster 7-0 run to open a 21-17 margin, eventually closing the set by outscoring the Mustangs 11-2. Junior middle Cody Chidsey and McCandless did most of the serving for Rutgers-Newark, and Fredricks posted five kills down the stretch.
 
The Scarlet Raiders had to fight back in the third set as well, falling behind 5-0 and 7-1 before chipping away. A 3-0 run for the Raiders made it 8-5 and was highlighted by a thunderous Barnhard kill, and another 3-0 spurt made it 12-10 as Kuti and Mintzer recorded kills and McCandless picked up an ace.
 
Rutgers-Newark tied the set at 15 and took its first lead (17-16) after a Barnhard kill, eventually opening a 19-16 edge with back-to-back Fredricks kills.
 
Stevenson was able to get within one twice (22-21, 24-23), but on their second attempt at championship point, McCandless set up Mintzer for the clincher to send the Scarlet Raiders dancing.
 
Rutgers-Newark will find out its draw in the NCAA Tournament on Monday morning at 10 a.m. Fans can watch the selection show live at www.NCAA.com/live.
 
2015 CVC All-Tournament Team
Kevin McCandless – Rutgers-Newark (MVP)
Jack Fredricks – Rutgers-Newark
Travis Mintzer– Rutgers-Newark
David Moler – Stevenson
Kyle Wisner – Stevenson
Graham Clark – Marymount
Michael Whitelock - Thiel