NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (October 4, 2011) – Rutgers University volleyball returned home for the first time in seven matches, taking down Fordham, 3-1, at the College Ave Gym on Tuesday night. The Scarlet Knights improve to 4-2 at home this season.
“It is great anytime that you win,” said head coach CJ Werneke after the match. “It gives us momentum heading into our next three BIG EAST matches at home. It is nice to get back on track and more importantly I am excited about how we played. We addressed some things this week and I thought we executed the game plan really well. If we can continue that, good things are to come.”
Senior Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska) (18 kills) and freshman Sofi Cucuz (Crown Point, Ind.) (17 kills) led RU, setting season and career highs, respectively. Curtis hit at a .464 clip for the match.
Junior Stephanie Zielinski (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) tallied 54 assists and 12 digs for the match for her ninth double-double of the season. It was the sixth time she has notched at least 50 assists in a match this season.
The Scarlet Knights (7-13) – who have often gotten off to slow starts this season – came out of the gates on fire on this night, taking the first set 25-11. RU hit at a staggering .481 hitting percentage in set, only committing one error in 27 attempts.
It took 32 points for the Scarlet Knights to take a 2-0 lead after Fordham (5-12) made some adjustments in the second. It was the longest set of the season for Rutgers, as sophomore Tiffany Regmund (Bryan, Texas) scored a service ace to end it.
The Rams battled back in the third to take their only set of the night, 25-16, behind 10 kills and four blocks. Fordham was coming off a school-record 21 blocks in their win over Temple last weekend.
Rutgers responded in the fourth set with 21 kills, including seven from Cucuz, to seal the match. It was the second-straight win at home for the Scarlet Knights, closing out the nonconference schedule at 7-10.
“We have struggled against Fordham in the past, so it is nice to come through,” said Werneke. “It was one of the matches that proves we are getting better since we had lost to them in the past and came out and dominated tonight. It is exciting for our kids to see that we are making progress.”
RU recorded 66 kills on the night for a .268 hitting percentage, improving to 7-0 when leading the match in the latter category.
Freshman Alyssa Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) led the Scarlet Knights with 14 digs from her defensive specialist position.
Lisa Hipp paced the Rams with eight kills.
Rutgers will return the College Ave Gym on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. to take on BIG EAST foe Cincinnati. It will be the first home conference match of the season for the Scarlet Knights.
For more information on the Rutgers volleyball team, please log on to ScarletKnights.com to find up-to-date news, stats and information. Also follow the program on Twitter at Twitter.com/RUvball and Facebook at Facebook.com/RutgersVolleyball.
