MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Rutgers volleyball team closed out its first road weekend of BIG EAST play with a 3-0 loss to Marquette Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee, Wis. at the Al McGuire Center.
A number of errors and a strong defensive performance by the Golden Eagles (11-7, 1-3 BIG EAST) were too much for the Scarlet Knights (7-10, 1-3 BIG EAST) to overcome as they fell by scores of 25-14, 25-12, 25-18. The win improves Marquette’s lead in the all-time series with Rutgers by a 7-1 advantage.
“We are a team that has to rely on our ball control, defense and serving and when we don’t execute well in those areas we get the results we got today,” said Rutgers head coach
CJ Werneke.
For the second straight match, junior Emma Chrystal (Kalamazoo, Mich.) led the Scarlet Knights in kills as she swatted seven. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter is third on the squad in kills this season with 136.
Freshmen setter Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) notched 13 assists to push her 2009 total to a RU-best 447.
Golden Eagle Nikki Klingsporn led all student-athletes with 12 kills. Golden Eagle Rabbecka Gonyo deflected a match-high six total blocks. The Golden Eagles scored 18 total blocks.
Rutgers will have a quick turnaround as the squad steps out of conference play to host Hofstra Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
“We have to regroup and get back to what we were doing successfully earlier this season, and we have to do it quickly,” said Werneke. “There is no time to worry about today’s loss with our next match being on Wednesday.”
