STORY COURTESY OF RUTGERS-NEWARK SPORTS INFORMATION
As the number three seed in the Continental Volleyball Conference, Rutgers-Newark (22-9) took down #6 Drew (6-25), taking them to the next round of the championship tournament.
The first set was a bit rocky for the Scarlet Raiders. Nonetheless, they marched on. They started out on top by a score of 6-3, and after a Derek Au ace to make it 10-5, Drew took their first timeout of the set.
After the break, the Rangers gained a bit of ground. A few attack errors for the home side gave them a route in, but they couldn't get back on level terms. Rutgers-Newark stayed out in front, and another ace hit by Massimo Roco setting the score at 21-16 led to a second timeout for Drew. However, the visitors couldn't climb back, and the Scarlet Raiders took set one.
The Rangers entered set two with renewed energy. They jumped ahead 5-3 and stayed ahead. Aleks Kolodziej smacked an ace to even it at 7, but the Rangers pushed on. The serve bounced back and forth, with the visitors maintaining a small lead throughout. Then, a three point run widened the gap to four at 18-14, leading to a Scarlet Raider timeout.
After the break, the momentum began to shift. The Rutgers-Newark defense solidified, and the attacks were landing on target. Aleks Kolodziej snuck one past the blockers to make it a 20-20 game, causing Drew to take their timeout.
Once play resumed again, the back and forth nature of the scoring resumed as well. But suddenly the Rangers exploded with three quick points to snatch the second set by a score of 25-22.
The set two loss clearly angered the Scarlet Raiders, and they came out hungry in set three. They took five of the first six points, feeling much more comfortable. With the scoreline at 11-6, Drew put up three straight to get within a couple. However, the home team responded in kind, widening the gap back out to four.
As the energy picked up from the home fans in the Golden Dome, the Scarlet Raiders kept plugging away. They found themselves up by six points at 19-13 when Drew took their second timeout of the set. The reset did not do much for the visitors on this occasion, and Rutgers-Newark cruised to the finish, regaining their set lead.
In the fourth set, Rutgers-Newark looked ready to finish off their opponents. After splitting the first six points, They went on an 8-3 run to take a five point lead at 11-6. From there, they just kept on rolling. Drew took a timeout when they dropped behind by seven, with the scoreboard reading 16-9.
At first, the stoppage did work in their favor. They won the first two points to get within five of the hosts. However, the Scarlet Raiders were relentless. They powered through to the end to cement a four set win.
Men's volleyball will play in the CVC semifinals this Friday, April 11th. They will travel down to the campus of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA to take on Juniata, time TBD.