The Scarlet Raiders men's volleyball team kept on rolling this evening at the Golden Dome when they took down No. 12 Stevenson University, 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-14). The win over a nationally-ranked opponent is the first since March 13, 2018, when they swept No. 12 College of Mount St. Joseph.
Rutgers University-Newark (4-0) was led by freshman Andrew Zaleck with 16 kills while fellow freshman Justin Tuohy collected a career-high 50 assists against the Mustangs. Robert Long finished with 12 kills and hit .526 while Arvind Kumar and Daniel Quay each tallied 11. Jake Connors led the squad with 15 digs.
No. 12 Stevenson University (7-3) had just one player reach double-digit kill and that was Kyle Bosko with 10. Peyton Ranck led the team with 33 assists while Tanner Stauffer came in with a team-high tally of 11 digs. The Mustangs collected a match-high 15 blocks with Stauffer picking up six of them.
In the opening set, the Scarlet Raiders came out strong on their home court and took a 13-8 lead. The Mustangs galloped back and took a 17-16 lead after an attacking error by the Scarlet Raiders following a pair of kills by Nate Reynolds. Momentum swung in favor of the Mustangs who were able to take the opening set in a narrow 25-20 victory.
The second set would go in favor of the Scarlet Raiders after a 7-1 run put them up 11-7. Long orchestrated the run with a pair of kills while Zaleck picked up a service ace during that run as well. Down the stretch, Stevenson went on a 4-0 run to take 21-20 lead, however, Kumar found an opening and crushed the ball onto the floor to knot the set up. A pair of errors towards the end put the Scarlet Raiders ahead while Zaleck secured a kill to tie the match up at 1-1.
The third set was much like the second as play flipped back-and-forth with neither team able to grab a foothold. Quay set the Scarlet Raiders on a 5-1 run which was capped by a pair of Long kills. The Mustangs attempted to make a push towards the end but the Scarlet Raiders were able to lock in and hold onto their lead to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Stevenson couldn't get out of their way in the final set as the continued to commit attacking errors. The Scarlet Raiders took advantage of their opponents' mistakes and continued to pick up kills as they cruised to a 25-14 victory.
The Scarlet Raiders return to action on Saturday, February 8 when they travel to take on No. 3 Stevens Institute and Eastern University for a tri-match.