PISCATAWAY, N.J (October 9, 2010) – The Rutgers volleyball team (7-11, 0-5 BIG EAST) dropped a four set match to Villanova (15-4, 4-1 BIG EAST) this afternoon at College Ave Gym. The Scarlet Knights were led by Emma Chrystal (Portage, Mich.) and Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) who each tallied double-doubles in the losing effort.
The first set saw Villanova use an early 6-0 run to jump out to a 12-6 lead. Rutgers refused to give in, rallying off six of the next seven points to cut the lead to one at 13-12. The Wildcats bounced right back going on another run to regain a six point cushion at 21-15. From there, VU used a balanced attack to close out the set 25-18.
In the second set, the squads continued the back and forth volleyball, exchanging points until the score was 9-9. From there, the Scarlet Knights went on an 8-5 run to take a 17-14 lead. Villanova didn’t let the RU mini-run faze them and evened the score up at 17. Following a RU timeout and an Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) kill, Rutgers rallied to run off five-straight points behind strong serving from Zielinski.VU tried to rally back, getting the score as close as 24-22, but a kill from Chrystal closed out the set for RU.
Following the intermission, Villanova came out strong with an 11-1 run in the middle of the third to help them cruise to a 25-15 set victory.
The fourth set saw the match return to back and forth volleyball as neither team could gain a decisive advantage early and the squads exchanged leads until the score was 15-15. From there, Rutgers scored back-to-back points to jump ahead, 17-15. As in sets before, VU responded going on a 4-0 run of their own forcing the Scarlet Knights to call timeout. RU rallied to get the score back to one at 22-21 on a kill from Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) but that would be the last point RU would score as Villanova rallied off the last three points to close out the set and the match, 25-21.
The Scarlet Knights return to action this Tuesday, Oct. 12, when they take on instate rival Rider in a 6 p.m. matchup at College Ave. Gym.
