The Rutgers-Newark men's volleyball team will host the upcoming Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) Tournament next Friday and Saturday at The Golden Dome Arena.
The Scarlet Raiders clinched the rite to host Wednesday night with a five-set win over fourth-ranked and previously undefeated in conference play Juniata College.
Rutgers-Newark (17-8, 9-1 CVC) overcame a 2-1 deficit in the match and match point on two separate occasions to earn the much-needed and hard-fought victory over the Eagles who defeated Rutgers-Newark by the same score in Huntingdon, Pa. earlier this season.
The four-team two-day tournament will take place on April 10 & 11 and Rutgers-Newark will be the top seed. The Scarlet Raiders are tied atop the conference standings with Juniata but the Eagles have decided not to participate in the 2015 postseason eliminating any tiebreaking scenarios.
The Scarlet Raiders have a pair of CVC matches this weekend as they visit Eastern Mennonite University Friday night at 7 p.m. and Marymount University Saturday at 2 p.m.
Stevenson has clinched a spot in the tournament with a conference mark of 6-4 heading into the final weekend of CVC regular-season action, and Marymount, Thiel and Eastern Mennonite all fighting for spots in the four-team field.
After starting the season 0-5 against some excellent competition in Puerto Rico, Rutgers-Newark has won 17-of-20, 7-of-8 and four straight.
The 2015 men's volleyball season is the first for R-N as an NCAA Division III program and the first in the CVC. After struggling through a mixed schedule against DI and DIII foes in 2013 and 2014, the Scarlet Raiders have come into their own in 2015, trending up as the season has progressed.
CVC Tournament match times will be 5 & 7:30 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday. The Raiders will be a TBD opponent Friday at 7:30 p.m. after the first semifinal between the two and three seeds.
Admission to the CVC Tournament is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for students (w/ID) and children under 6 are free. All Rutgers-Newark fans can attend free of charge with a Rutgers-Newark ID.
There will be live stats and live video for each match and fans unable to make the trip to The Golden Dome Arena can visit www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com for live links on match-day.