LONG BEACH, Calif. (August 28, 2010) – The Rutgers volleyball team dropped a hard fought match to UNLV, 3-2, in its second game of the Long Beach State Baden Classic. The win improves UNLV’s record to 1-1 while Rutgers falls to 0-2.
Rutgers was paced by sophomore Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) who recorded her seventh career double-double tallying a team-high 47 assists and 16 digs. The Scarlet Knights also saw four players record double-digit kills in Emma Chrystal (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.), Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) and Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska).
The Scarlet Knights and Rebels went back and forth to start the first set with neither team gaining much of an advantage until UNLV used a 7-1 run to take a 19-13 lead. The Scarlet Knights took four of the last five points in the set but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit and UNLV took the set 25-21.
Rutgers used the momentum gained at the end of the first to jump out to an early lead at the start of the second set. The Scarlet Knights maintained the lead throughout the set and eventually closed it out, 25-23, when Saxton slammed home a beautiful ball from Zielinski.
The Scarlet Knights came out of the break on fire scoring the first five points of the third set but the Rebels responded quickly and tied the score, 7-7. From there the teams played back and forth volleyball with neither team gaining the upper hand until Saxton made a crucial block to give RU a two point lead, 24-22. Following an attacking error by UNLV, the Scarlet Knights had taken the third set 25-22.
The fourth set saw the back and forth volleyball continue with neither team gaining an advantage of more than three points until UNLV used a 4-0 run to take a 19-16 lead which forced RU to take a timeout. Following the timeout, Rutgers got the score to 19-19 but UNLV used a 6-2 run to force a deciding fifth set.
Neither team could get an early advantage in the final set with both team exchanging points until the score was tied 8-8. From there, UNLV used a 7-1 run to close out the match.
The Scarlet Knights return to action later this evening when they close out the Long Beach State Baden Classic with a matchup against the Sacred Heart Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. EST.
