Rutgers Volleyball 2010 Season Recap
Dec 09 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Dec. 9, 2010) – The Rutgers women’s volleyball team finished its season with an overall record of 11-17. The 11 wins were the most for the program since the 2005 season.
“Overall, it was a good year and we took a step forward,” said head coach CJ Werneke. “I feel like we were better at the end of the season then we were in the beginning of the year and we’ll continue to work and make progress. When you’re building a program, it’s the baby steps. You need to take steps to build a solid foundation, rather than just going for quick fixes and I feel like we took a few of those steps this year.”
RU started the season with a pair of losses at the Long Beach State Baden Classic. Against Long Beach State, Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) paced the Scarlet Knights with 13 assists and nine digs. She also had a stellar performance against UNLV notching a double-double with 47 assists and 16 digs.
Next, Rutgers went on a three-game winning streak against Sacred Heart, East Carolina, and Sam Houston State.
To close the Long Beach State Baden Classic, RU defeated Sacred Heart in a come-from-behind victory. At the Delaware Invitational, the Scarlet Knights were led by a balanced attack which featured key contributions from Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska), Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) and Emma Chrystal (Kalamazoo, Mich.) to drop ECU. In their second matchup of the Delaware Invitational, Rutgers defeated Sam Houston State, led by Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) with her 15thcareer double-double (15 kills, 16 digs) and Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) who notched a career-high 17 kills. To close the invitational, RU fell to tournament host Delaware in a hard-fought contest.
Following the loss to Delaware, the Scarlet Knights went on another three-game winning streak, defeating NJIT, George Mason, and Princeton.
In their final match-up before the Rutgers Invitational, RU blanked in-state opponent NJIT. RU then finished second at its own Rutgers Invitational, dropping George Mason and Princeton before ultimately falling to tournament champion TCU. For her efforts, Saxton was named to the BIG EAST honor roll and Rutgers Invitational All-Tournament team after tallying four double-doubles and swatting 66 kills.
In their next two games, RU could not seem to pull together a victory and dropped matches against Sacred Heart and Dartmouth at the Holly Young Invitational. The Scarlet Knights finished the tournament strong by picking up a win over host New Hampshire in their final match. Curtis took home all-tournament honors for her strong play.
“We started out strong in the pre-BIG EAST season and saw some really good things,” Werneke said. “Unfortunately, the team had some injuries to deal with in the beginning of the conference season.”
RU faced a gauntlet in the start BIG EAST play going up against and falling to four of the eight teams that advanced to the BIG EAST Championships in Louisville, No. 25 Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Villanova.
RU used a break in BIG EAST play to regain momentum, as they faced in-state opponent Rider. The Scarlet Knights rebounded strong from the string of BIG EAST losses and used a season-high 11 aces recorded by seven different players to blank the Broncs.
The Scarlet Knights carried the momentum from the Rider win into a matchup with another in-state rival, Seton Hall. After falling behind 2-0, Rutgers rallied to win the next three sets for their first BIG EAST win and first victory over the Pirates since 2004.
“The Seton Hall win was big for us because you always want to beat an in-state rival and our four seniors had never won against them,” Werneke said. “One of our goals this year was to beat Seton Hall at home and we were able to dig deep and get it done.”
Zielinski was chosen to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for her outstanding performances in the pair of in-state victories. Against Rider, Zielinski recorded her first double-double with 23 assists and 11 digs. Following that performance, she had an even better showing against Seton Hall as she notched 46 assists and a career-high 21 digs.
The Scarlet Knights dropped three in a row on the road to BIG EAST opponents St. John’s, Connecticut, and Georgetown before picking up a victory on the road against South Florida. RU used a career day from freshman Brittany Bozzini (Saratoga, Cailf.) and 62 assists from Zielinski to pick up the BIG EAST road win.
Zielinski was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the second time for her efforts against the Bulls as she recorded a season-high 62 assists and 17 digs.
“South Florida was another really good win for us,” Werneke said. “In order to achieve your goals as a program you have to win some road matches in the BIG EAST and we took a step forward in beating a BIG EAST qualifying tournament team in South Florida on the road.”
Rutgers closed out its season in November with four home matches. RU fell to Marquette, Syracuse, and Notre Dame before finishing their season strong with a 3-1 victory over DePaul on senior day.
“All four seniors will be missed,” Werneke said. “It’s one of those bittersweet things. You’re sad to see them leave, but you’re excited for their futures and then you’re excited for your program to see who is going to develop and step in to take on an additional role.”
Despite the losses of seniors Chrystal, Lauren Voss (Hartland, Wis.), Katie Groff (York, Pa.) and Saxton, the future looks bright for the Scarlet Knights as they return five starters, including co-captain Zielinski, from a squad that improved on its win total for the second-consecutive season.
“It’s exciting to have a core group of people coming back,” said Werneke. “You continue watching their progression and we only anticipate them getting better from here on out. Their continued development is going to be key to next year. Their leadership and experience on the court will bode well for the future of Rutgers volleyball.”
2010 also marked a banner year in the classroom for Rutgers volleyball as Saxton was named an ESPN First Team Academic All-American, making her the first BIG EAST volleyball student-athlete to take home multiple Academic All-American honors. Saxton, who led the team in kills and total attacks, holds a perfect 4.0 GPA as a double major in sociology and journalism and media studies.
“We’re excited that all the hard work that Caitlin put in on the court and in the classroom is being recognized,” Werneke said. “Caitlin is the epitome of a student-athlete and we are all very proud of the fact that she has been recognized as an Academic All-American.”
Saxton wasn’t the only Scarlet Knight to be honored for academic excellence, as the whole team earned an AVCA Team Academic Award for posting a combined team grade point average of above a 3.30.
“We are proud of our players for being recognized for their efforts in the classroom by receiving the AVCA Team Academic Award,” said Werneke. “It’s a testament of their investment to their futures and to their commitment of being student-athletes”
