HARRISONBURG, VA - The Rutgers volleyball team (1-1) kicked off the 2006 season by splitting a pair of matches at the James Madison Days Inn Invitational Aug. 25, falling to Duquesne (1-0) 1-3 before defeating UNC-Asheville (0-2) 3-1.

In RU's first match, the Scarlet Knights fell in four games (23-30, 39-37, 18-30, 28-30) to the Dukes. Senior Lora Yankauskas (Paramus, NJ) posted a match-high 21 kills to go along with 10 digs, while sophomore Kyra Thompson (Tucson, AZ) added a double-double of her own with 11 kills and 15 digs. Freshman Brittani Rendina (Lisle, IL) and junior Mallory McEnroe (Grand Rapids, MI) were impressive in their Rutgers debuts. Rendina collected a match-high 23 digs, while McEnroe added 11 kills and five block assists. Senior Jocelyn Greenwald (Old Tappan, NJ) had 26 assists and 15 digs for RU, while sophomore Roxy Calder (Oceanside, CA) notched 29 assists.

The Scarlet Knights bounced back in their second match of the day, defeating UNC-Asheville in four games (30-18, 30-25, 26-30, 37-35). Thompson led the way this time for Rutgers, setting a new career high with 21 kills. Rendina recorded a double-double with her 16 kills and 13 digs, while Greenwald had 30 assists and 18 digs to lead RU to the victory.

'I think we performed a little bit below our expectations, but we are learning a new system and the players are still getting to know each other,' said second-year Rutgers head coach Orlando Gonzalez. 'This system is high-risk, so if we are not on our game, we will make a few more mistakes. I know that is something that will get better with experience and repetitions. Getting a split today when we played a tough Duquesne team in the first match is a good start. Even when we weren't playing well, we were playing hard and leaving it all out on the court. As a coach, you have to be happy with that kind of effort.'

Rutgers will finish play at the JMU Days Inn Invitational Aug. 26, taking on Canisius at 2:00 p.m. and the host Dukes at 7:00 p.m.