Men's Volleyball

Scarlet Raiders take down Bearcats to earn third straight MVB crown

NEWARK, N.J. – The 2026 ECAC Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship wrapped up on Friday evening, with top seed Rutgers-Newark defeating Baruch 3-0 in the title match. The Scarlet Raiders have now won three straight team titles, marking the first back-to-back-to-back champion in league history.
 
Semifinal A:
#1 Rutgers-Newark def. #5 Ramapo 3-0
(25-14, 25-21, 25-22)
 
After rallying to defeat #4 Hunter 3-2 on Wednesday, Ramapo ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Rutgers-Newark, who began Friday’s action with a dominating 25-14 victory. The Scarlet Raiders followed with a 25-21 win in the second set before finishing off the sweep with a tally of 25-22.
 
Rutgers-Newark hit .328 for the match, while the Roadrunners stumbled to a mark of .029. Ramapo sophomore Amari Menter led the way with 12 kills, while Duncan Sturt racked up 27 kills, marking the 24th time this season he has recorded at least that many.
 
Semifinal B:
#2 Baruch def. #3 Penn State Behrend 3-1
(25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20)
 
The Bearcats took the first two sets behind scores of 25-18 and 25-16 respectively before the Lions got on the board with a slim 25-23 victory in the third set. Baruch closed out the match with a 25-20 win, setting up a championship match featuring the top two seeds in the tournament.
 
Peter Gavroff paced Baruch with 21 kills while hitting .395 for the match, with teammate Argjend Osmanaj following with 18 kills of his own. Bearcat setter Valentin Rodriguez totaled 38 assists, his third-best mark of the year.
 
ECAC Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship
#1 Rutgers-Newark def. #2 Baruch 3-0
(25-22, 25-16, 25-16)
 
The Scarlet Raiders opened the final match of the weekend with a 25-22 win, with three service aces ending up being the difference. The momentum carried over from there, winning both the second and third sets by a score of 25-16.
 
Eight different Rutgers-Newark players recorded a kill in the match, with Harry Takyi recording a game-high eight. Sturt added 26 more assists to total 53 for the day, and the Scarlet Raiders hit .333 in the title match.