LONG BEACH, Calif. (August 28, 2010) – The Rutgers volleyball team closed out the Long Beach State Baden Classic with a dramatic come from behind 3-2 victory over Sacred Heart (0-3) at the Walter Pyramid. The win moves Rutgers to 1-2 on the season.  

“We showed a lot of character coming from behind to win tonight,” said head coach CJ Werneke. “Being down 0-2 is tough but our girls didn’t give in and found a way to get the win.”

After dropping the first and second sets by the slimmest of margins, 25-23 and 26-24, Rutgers came out strong after the intermission and controlled the third set throughout and closed out a 25-22 win with a Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) kill.

RU got out to a 14-8 lead to start the fourth set but Sacred Heart responded with a 10-0 run to take four point lead. The Scarlet Knights dug deep and went on a run of their own and outscored the Crusaders 11-4 to end the set capped off by an Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) ace.

Rutgers carried its momentum from the fourth set into the deciding fifth set taking control early and never looking back en route to a 15-10 victory.  

The Scarlet Knights were led by a trio of players who recorded career-high numbers; Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Jones and Emma Chrystal (Kalamazoo, Mich.) For the second time on the day, Zielinski recorded a double-double with 59 assists and 20 digs, good for her first career 20-20 performance. Jones and Chrystal each set career-highs in kills with 14 and 18 respectively.

“I thought that we improved our level of play from match-to-match during this tournament,” Werneke said. “If we can build off this and continue our improvement from match-to-match and game-to-game it should be a good season for us.”

The Scarlet Knights return to action next weekend when they travel to Newark, Del. for the Delaware Invitational where they will meet up with East Carolina, Sam Houston and Delaware.