RU Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season at WVU, UP
Nov 13 | Women's Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - (November 13, 2009) - The Rutgers volleyball team will close out the regular season this weekend when it travels to West Virginia on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday. The West Virginia match starts at 2 p.m., while the Pittsburgh contest begins at 1 p.m.
Last weekend, the Scarlet Knights (10-17, 3-9 BIG EAST) had its most competitive contests of the season as they went five sets in both of their matches. RU was edged by Connecticut on Saturday, and knocked off St. John's on Sunday.
The Mountaineers (16-12, 5-7 BIG EAST) went 2-0 last week, picking up wins over Villanova and Youngstown State. WVU owns a 21-19 advantage over RU in the all-time series. However, Rutgers has dominated the series over the past decade with a 10-1 record since 1999. The Scarlet Knights defeated the Mountaineers at home last season, 3-1.
The Panthers (18-8, 10-2 BIG EAST) recorded their school-record eighth shutout in conference play with a three-set victory over Villanova last Sunday. It marked the 12th shutout of the season for Pitt and was also the fifth consecutive. Pittsburgh leads the all-time series with Rutgers by a 23-6 mark. Last season, the Panthers lost on the road by a 3-1 score.
"Both teams we face this week are strong teams and our team is excited to battle them this weekend," said Rutgers head coach CJ Werneke. "I think both contests will come down to who is more consistent. We match up well with West Virginia. Pittsburgh will be a nice challenge for us in the regular season finale."
Junior Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) had an outstanding weekend as the five-foot-nine outside hitter swatted 45 kills on a .255 attack percentage. Saxton scored her sixth double-double of the season in RU's win over St. John's with 23 kills and 15 digs. Saxton was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the second straight week for her performance.
Seniors libero Jamie Godfrey (Rahway, N.J.) and outside hitter Kyra Thompson (Tuscon, Ariz.) each moved up on Rutgers' career' digs list last weekend. Godfrey pushed her career total to 913 to move into eighth place. Thompson scooped 23 digs over the weekend to increase her career total to 864, placing her behind Godfrey in ninth place.
Toby Rens is in his second year as the Pittsburgh head coach. Rens holds a 35-22 record leading the Panthers. The Panthers boast a 2.84 blocks-per-set average on the season, while Meagan Dooley has 138 blocks. Sophomore Allyson Hodnik recorded her 1,000th assist of the season in the first set of the Villanova contest.
West Virginia head coach Veronica Hammersmith is in her 36th season leading the Mountaineers. Hammersmith owns a 578-573 record during her tenure. WVU senior outside hitter Kristina Gallahan was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll last week. The Mooresville, N.C., native led the Mountaineers with her second-straight 30-kill weekend.
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