LORETTO, PA – Rutgers-Newark senior
Nate Stott, junior
Dane Mulligan and sophomore
Marcin Midura had 15 kills apiece, but Saint Francis turned back a Scarlet Raider upset bid in five sets for the second time this young season.
Saint Francis 3, Rutgers-Newark 2
Senior middle hitter
Jon Keller hit .733 (12 kills, 1 errors, 15 attacks) to help the Raiders (1-7) hit .231 (65-32-143), but the Red Flash (7-4) attacked at a .326 rate (65-19-141) to make the difference.
Mulligan added an ace, two assisted blocks and a dozen digs for the Raiders while Stott chipped in nine digs and two assisted blocks. Midura, who added an ace, equaled Stott by handling 31 services without an error.
It marked the fourth 5-set loss of the year for Rutgers-Newark which got 57 assists and four kills from junior setter
Jeff Zornig. Rookie libero
Tomas Goldsmith notched a match-high 14 digs for Rutgers-Newark.
Senior opposite Jordan Varee collected a match-high 21 kills with just four errors on 31 attacks to pace the Red Flash attack. He also added two of Saint Francis’ four aces and got in on six blocks. Senior outside hitter Nick Rivett posted 17 kills while senior middle hitter Pete Freyer had 10 kills, an ace and 10 assisted blocks. Sophomore setter Ryan Williams piled up 57 assists and got in on four blocks.
Keller, Mulligan and Midura had kills for the final three Raider points in the opening frame, helping the Raiders break away from a 27-27 tie for an early lead.
But, the Red Flash answered by hitting a sizzling .652 (17-2-23) in the second set to even the score.
Stott and Mulligan had four kills apiece as Rutgers-Newark took the third set to set up a pivotal fourth frame battle.
Midura had six kills and the Raiders hit a crisp .367 in the fourth set, but Saint Francis managed to win the frame despite having six fewer kills. A 2-0 edge in aces, a 4-2 advantage in blocks and four fewer attack errors spelled difference.
Varee notched three kills in the final set as Saint Francis led from wire-to-wire.
Rutgers-Newark hosts Springfield on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in The Golden Dome.