Rutgers Volleyball Continues Road Swing, Heads to DePaul, Notre Dame
Oct 30 | Women's Volleyball
CHICAGO (October 30, 2009) - The Rutgers volleyball team hopes to end a five-match skid this weekend when it travels to DePaul on Saturday and Notre Dame on Sunday. The match against the Blue Demons will begin at 3 p.m., while the Irish contest starts at 1 p.m.
The Scarlet Knights (8-15, 1-7 BIG EAST) dropped two matches last week. On Oct. 21, Rutgers fell at Fordham by a 3-1 score. RU's second-set victory against Fordham snapped a 10-set skid for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers dropped a 3-0 decision at Seton Hall last Saturday. The Scarlet Knights have fallen in six straight conference matches and are 2-7 on the road this season.
The Blue Demons (6-17, 0-8 BIG EAST) fell to the UIC Flames on Tuesday by a 3-0 mark. DePaul has lost 11 straight matches and have only won two sets during that skid. The Blue Demons are 2-10 at home this season. DePaul leads the all-time series with Rutgers by a 4-2 advantage. Last season, the Scarlet Knights fell at home to the Blue Demons by a 3-1 score.
The Irish (14-4, 8-0 BIG EAST) knocked off the Blue Demons last Friday to remain perfect in conference play and extend its win streak to eight. Notre Dame hosts Seton Hall on Saturday. The Irish received 51 votes in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll this past week.
Notre Dame is 7-1 at home this season. The Irish own a perfect 16-0 all-time record against the Scarlet Knights. In 2008, Notre Dame captured a 3-0 victory against Rutgers last at College Ave Gym.
"We have been working hard in practice and we have focused on transition and continuing what we have been doing well on offense," said Rutgers head coach CJ Werneke. "We are looking forward to getting back on the court against DePaul on Saturday. We feel we match up well with them. Notre Dame is obviously the top team in our conference with an undefeated record. We hope to have a strong performance against DePaul and carry that momentum over to Notre Dame on Sunday."
Junior outside hitter Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) owns a Rutgers-best 291 kills. The co-captain averages 3.46 kills per set, which ranks eighth in the conference. Saxton has scored 321.5 points this season and averages 3.83 per set, which ranks ninth in the BIG EAST.
Senior libero Jamie Godfrey (Rahway, N.J.) has scooped a team-best 330 digs this season. The co-captain currently ranks 10th in school history with 845 career digs. Godfrey is three digs away from surpassing former Scarlet Knight Mara Prisditis (1994-97) for ninth place. Her 3.93 digs per set average this season ranks seventh in the conference.
Amy Hardison is in her third season as the head coach of DePaul. Sarah Cullen leads the Blue Demons in kills with 257 and a 3.06 kills per set average.
Notre Dame is led by 19th-year head coach Debbie Brown. The Irish are swatting a conference-best hitting percentage (.263) and kills per set average (14.11) this season. Two Irish student-athletes are ranked in the top-10 in conference attack percentage with Kellie Sciacca (.341) and Serinity Phillips (.313), who rank third and seventh, respectfully.
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