Jan. 23, 2004

NEWARK, N.J. - Junior outside hitter Andrew Pink hammered down a career-high 23 kills as Rutgers-Newark upended defending NCAA Champion Lewis, 3-1, in men's volleyball in The Golden Dome.

Pink hit .327 (23 kills, seven errors, 49 attacks) and sophomores Byron Goff and Brian Honsberger added 16 and 14 kills, respectively, as the Scarlet Raiders (2-3) got the upset in their home opener after pushing #12 Ohio State and #14 Ball State on the road last week. Currently ranked 11th, Lewis suffered its fourth consecutive loss to fall to 1-4. Goff added two aces while Honsberger had four of the Raiders' 18 blocking assists plus an ace.

Sophomore setter Aleks Ondelj posted a season-high 61 assists and added a match-high three assists. He also had eight digs and two kills.

Junior outside hitter Jeff Soler had 14 kills and nine digs for the Flyers while senior Fabiano Barreto and sophomore Enrique Escalante added 11 kills apiece. Sophomore setter Brandon Sisk had 42 assists, three kills, five digs and a solo block for Lewis.

After the teams split the first two games, Pink had six kills and Goff four in a 30-23 game three win. The Raiders out hit the Flyers, .324 to .179, in the game.

The Flyers rallied from a 27-24 hole in game four as junior middle blocker Greg Pochopien put down a kill which was followed by three straight Raider attack errors for a 28-27 Lewis lead. Rutgers-Newark knotted the score twice before taking a 30-29 lead on a kill by Honsberger. A Goff service error tied the match a 30-all before Pink pounded down back-to-back kills the end the match.

story courtesy of Rutgers-Newark Sports Information