PRINCETON, NJ – Rutgers-Newark junior right side
Dane Mulligan had a match-high 20 kills, but Princeton posted a 3-1 win in Dillon Gym. Set scores were 30-26, 30-28, 27-30, 30-24.
Princeton 3, Rutgers-Newark 1
Mulligan hit .557 (20 kills, 3 errors, 30 attacks) and added an ace and two assisted blocks for 22.0 points and junior setter
Liran Shapiro ran the attack with 51 assists, but the Tigers (4-4) out-hit the Scarlet Raiders, .431 to .31,5 to take the match.
Sophomore outside hitter
Marcin Midura added 18.0 points on 16 kills, an ace and two assisted blocks while chipping in a team-high six digs, and senior middle hitter
Jon Keller got in on eight of the Raiders’ 11 blocks and pounded down nine kills on just 13 swings. Senior outside hitter
Nate Stott collected nine kills, two aces and two assisted blocks to give Rutgers-Newark four double-digit scorers.
Junior outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli led a balanced Princeton attack with 17 kills, two solo blocks and an assisted block. Sophomore setter Scott Liljestrom piled up 60 assists as the Tigers won for the third time in their last four matches.
Tiger freshman outside hitter Pat Schwagler tallied 21.0 points on 14 kills, a match-high four aces and six assisted blocks while senior middle blocker Jeff McCown and freshman middle blocker Michael Dye chipped in 13 kills apiece.
A block by Keller and Shapiro gave the Raiders a 16-13 lead in the opening set before the Tigers went on a 6-0 run fueled by two Schwagler aces and three Rutgers-Newark attack errors. Rutgers-Newark trimmed the deficit to one point twice before Princeton pulled away to go up 1-0.
Princeton held off a late Raider surge in the second frame with Tuminelli delivering kills sandwiched around a Tiger service error to close out the set.
Mulligan put down seven kills with one error on 10 swings as Rutgers-Newark took the third set despite the Tigers’ .370 hitting percentage for the frame.
Schwagler had seven kills on as many attacks and Princeton hit a scalding .696 (17-1-23) in the fourth set to end the evening. Mulligan had six kills and no errors on nine attacks, and Midura posted five kills with one error on seven strokes as the Raiders attacked well in the frame.
It was the seventh straight loss for the Raiders (1-9, EIVA Hay 1-0) who host NJIT on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in The Golden Dome in an EIVA Hay match.