PITTSBURGH, Pa. (November 15, 2009) – The Rutgers volleyball team fell by a 3-0 decision in its season finale at Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon in the Fitzgerald Field House.
The Panthers (20-8, 12-2 BIG EAST) defeated the Scarlet Knights (10-19, 3-11 BIG EAST) by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 25-21.
“We played a competitive match with a top-three conference team,” said Rutgers head coach CJ Werneke. “We couldn’t take advantage of our opportunities. We were close in the first two sets and in the third set we were up early. We hung in each set but we couldn’t close one out.”
Junior outside hitters Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) and Katie Groff (York, Pa.) tied for the team lead in kills with nine. Saxton ends the season with a team-best 380 kills.
Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) led the Scarlet Knights in assists with 28. The freshman standout dished out an RU-best 766.
The Panthers were led by Amy Town and Melissa Stadelman who scored 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Pittsburgh match ends the RU careers of six Scarlet Knights - Seniors Sophie Cook (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Jamie Godfrey (Rahway, N.J.), Kyra Thompson (Tuscon, Ariz.) Stephanie Moore (Dallas, Texas), Victoria Thomas (Dallas, Texas) and junior Katie Barends (Glen Gardner, N.J). Barends is graduating in the spring and will not use her final year of eligibility.
Godfrey and Thompson each end their RU tenure in the top 10 of the school’s career record book for digs. Godfrey tallied 942 digs during her four years “On the Banks”, placing her seventh on the all-time list. Her 427 digs this season puts her second in the single-season record book.
Thompson scooped a match-high 12 digs against Pittsburgh to boost her career total to 935 to remain one spot behind Godfrey in eighth place on the school’s all-time list.
Rutgers finishes the 2009 season with plenty of reasons for optimism. RU’s 10 wins this season equals the total amount of victories the squad had in the three previous seasons combined. The Scarlet Knights return five regular starters, including their leader in kills (Saxton), assists (Zielinski) and total blocks (Hannah Curtis).
“We told the team after the match that there is no doubt we improved from the start of the season to now,” said Werneke. “We have a strong group returning next year and I feel we are a program on the rise. That is why we coach – to see our student-athletes develop during their time here. This group of seniors leaving bought in to our system and our returning players are going to continue the process in the future.”
