NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark junior setter
Jeff Zornig and sophomore outside hitter
Marcin Midura set new career highs, but Juniata edged Rutgers-Newark, 23-30, 30-27, 21-30, 30-25, 18-16, in The Golden Dome.
Juniata 3, Rutgers-Newark 2
Midura hammered down a career-high 26 kills and added a dozen digs and three aces for Rutgers-Newark (9-11) which also got a career-high 70 assists from Zornig. Zornig also notched 13 digs and two aces.
After a kill by sophomore outside hitter
Eduardo Hernandez gave the Scarlet Raiders a 16-15 lead in the final frame, Eagle senior outside hitter Zach Wanner delivered a kill ahead of a block by sophomore middle blocker Ben Wolff and sophomore setter John Almquist to put the Eagles (7-12) ahead. An attack error by Hernandez ended the 2-hour, 20-minute marathon. Hernandez contributed a career-high 23 kills, two aces and eight digs. Wanner posted eight of his team-high 24 kills in the fifth set.
The Raiders played without senior middle hitter
Jon Keller who was forced to sit out with a foot injury.
Junior right side
Dane Mulligan came off the bench to post 13 kills, an ace and seven digs while rookie middle hitter
Mark Kochan tallied 11 kills and got in on four blocks.
The match was as tight as the final score with Rutgers-Newark hitting .300 (82 kills, 28 errors, 180 attacks) and the Eagles .291 (71-19-179). Six consecutive service errors by the Scarlet Raiders – each time with Rutgers-Newark leading by a point – kept Juniata in the fifth frame and eventually spelled the difference.
Wanner also posted 15 digs, an ace, a solo block and two assisted blocks while Almquist registered 61 assists, two aces and seven digs. Wolff hit .536 with 16 kills and just one error on 28 swings while also getting in on five blocks.
The libero play was superlative with Juniata’s senior Anthony Damiano making 22 digs and Raider freshman Tomas Goldsmith popping up 21 attacks.
It marked the eighth 5-set match of the season for the Raiders who are 2-6 in those contests.
Rutgers-Newark hosts George Mason in The Golden Dome on Saturday at 4 p.m.