PISCATAWAY, N.J (October 3, 2010) – The Rutgers volleyball team dropped a three set match to West Virginia this afternoon at College Ave. Gym.

The Mountaineers (12-7, 2-2 BIG EAST) posted scores of 25-17, 25-17 and 25-23 to knock off the Scarlet Knights (7-10, 0-4 BIG EAST).

The first set saw WVU jump out to an early 9-3 lead before RU used strong serving from sophomore Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) to go on a run of their own, cutting the lead to 9-8. The Mountaineers didn’t blink and used another run to push their lead back to six at 18-12. From there, West Virginia used a balanced attack to close out the set 25-17.

The squads played back and forth volleyball to open the second game with neither team gaining the upper hand until WVU used a 6-0 run to close out the set 25-17. 

After the break, head coach CJ Werneke made some changes to his rotation hoping to generate a spark. Werneke brought in senior outside hitters Lauren Voss (Hartland, Wis.) and Katie Groff (York, Pa.) and freshman Mariah Horvath (Poway, Calif.) as libero. The move seemed to pay immediate dividends as Rutgers jumped out to a 13-6 lead behind strong play from the three subs as well as Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska) and Kelsey Ross (Orinda, Calif.). The seven point lead forced WVU to call timeout to help stop the RU momentum. Following the timeout, the Mountaineers went on 12-5 run to square the match at 18-18. From there, the teams exchanged points until WVU rallied off the final two points taking the game, 25-23, and the match.

The Scarlet Knights return to action next Saturday when they host the Villanova Wildcats in a 2 p.m. matchup at College Ave. Gym.