NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Despite a valiant effort from the Rutgers volleyball team, the Scarlet Knights fell just short in a 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 21-25, 25-16) home BIG EAST loss to rival Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon at the College Ave. Gym.
Sophomore Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) registered her second best outing of the year with a match-high 15 kills. Saxton has recorded 10 or more kills seven times this season. Sophomore Emma Chrystal (Portage, Mich.) also got into double figures in kills with 11, just one off her season-high.
“It was a great match to be a part of,” said head coach
CJ Werneke. “Our kids are figuring it out and we are getting better. We always talk about competing and the kids did that today. We are setting a foundation for the future and it was fun to watch the way they played today.”
Senior Roxy Calder (Oceanside, Calif.) set a new season-high with 40 assists, while junior Jamie Godfrey (Rahway, N.J.) dug a team-best 13 balls.
The Scarlet Knights had a chance to take the first set, leading 21-19, but a 6-0 Pitt run would steal the early advantage away from Rutgers. The Panthers would carry that momentum into the second set and easily jump out to the 2-0 set lead.
Rutgers would respond out of the halftime break though, jumping out to a 7-1 lead in set three. A 5-0 Pitt run would tighten things up and it stayed that way for most of the set. The Panthers held a 17-15 advantage, but RU would not go away easy. A 4-0 Rutgers run capped off by a Chrystal block would give RU a two point advantage (19-17). The teams would trade points throughout the remainder of the set, but Pitt could not catch up and the Scarlet Knights won the set.
Pitt would match RU’s intensity in the fourth and final set though, jumping out to an early lead and maintaining it throughout the set.
Kelly Campbell, who has won back-to-back BIG EAST Player of the Week awards, led Pitt with a double-double. The senior tallied team-highs with 14 kills and 10 digs.
The Scarlet Knights fall to 1-18 overall on the year and 0-9 in BIG EAST play, while the Panthers improve to 15-10 and 7-3 in league action.
Rutgers will look for its first conference victory of the season when it hosts West Virginia Sunday. The match is set for 2 p.m. at the College Ave. Gym.
