NEWARK, N.J. (February 16, 2022)  – Graduate student Jack Fyda and junior Nathan Lancia each had six kills, but No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball fell to No. 7 Rutgers University-Newark 3-0 (18-25, 19-25, 15-25) Wednesday in a non-conference match at the Golden Dome Athletic Center.

First-year Tyler Christensen added three kills and junior Louden Moran had 12 assists for the Ducks, who dropped to 10-2.

Arvind Kumar had a match-high 13 kills and Andrew Zaleck added 10 for the Scarlet Raiders, who improved to 10-1 on the year. Rutgers-Newark has won each of the last two meetings between the programs, although Stevens holds a 7-5 lead in the all-time series. Rutgers-Newark completed its transition to Division III in 2015.

The opening set saw the Scarlet Raiders jump out to an early lead, blocking a pair of Stevens attacks to score the first points of the match. The Ducks would total 11 kills in the opening round, the most for the team in any of the three sets. The early deficit would set an unfortunate tone as Stevens would not lead at any point in the match and only forced four ties in the final set.

Rutgers-Newark would hold its two-point lead until the middle portion of the set, as the teams alternated points. The Scarlet Raiders used a 5-2 run to take a 12-8 lead, before the teams returned to the back-and-forth play. A three-point run pushed the Ducks' deficit to seven and a Martin Chromulak kill closed out the set.

The Scarlet Raiders reeled off six straight points to open the second set, before the Ducks got on the board after a service error and consecutive kills from Christensen. The Ducks' offensive momentum was short-lived, however, as a pair of errors handed Rutgers-Newark a 13-6 advantage. 

Stevens would finish with a negative hitting percentage in the second frame, however, the Ducks scored three straight points, punctuated by a double block by Fyda and senior Zachary Evans, to claw within three at 20-17. Rutgers-Newark would score five of the final six points to close out the frame.

The third set again found Stevens playing from behind after an attack error gave Rutgers a 1-0 lead. Christensen and Lancia set down kills to help the Ducks draw even at three and a pair of Rutgers-Newark errors tied the set at five. 

The Scarlet Raiders reeled off four straight points to break the set open at 9-5 and the team would string together a series of three-point runs to clinch the match.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens finished the match hitting a season-low 0.040. Rutgers-Newark hit .318.
• Junior Connor Feulner totaled two blocks as Stevens totaled four.
• The Ducks did not record an ace for the second time this season.
• First-year Jesse Knuckles finished with a match-high eight digs.

Unsung Hero

• Senior Daniel Perun was one of three Ducks with a perfect serving percentage. The Sayville, New York native also dished out six assists. 

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Dan Buehring

• "Rutgers played an incredibly tight serve-pass game and simply outplayed us. We need to find ways to step up our skill execution if we want to compete at the level they brought in the future. We have a motivated, hard working group and a lot of work ahead of us. There is a very specific response we need to see and I trust this group to find that inside ourselves."

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