Rutgers Volleyball Ready to Open Home Conference Schedule
Oct 06 | Women's Volleyball
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (October 6, 2011) - After returning home to defeat Fordham in four sets on Tuesday, Rutgers University volleyball (7-13, 0-3 BIG EAST) will be back in action at the College Ave this weekend to take on two of the top teams in the BIG EAST, Cincinnati and Louisville. RU is 5-11 in BIG EAST home openers dating back to 1995.
The match versus Cincinnati (12-6, 3-0 BIG EAST) is schedule for Friday at 7 p.m., while the Louisville (12-4, 4-0 BIG EAST) match will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission to both contests is free and each match will be available through GameTracker on ScarletKnights.com.
"We are looking to build off the performance against Fordham," said head coach CJ Werneke. "We had a great week of practice and I am looking forward to coming out and competing at a high level.
"We really need to serve aggressively this weekend," he continued. "There is no doubt that Cincinnati and Louisville are two of the top teams in the conference. They have a lot of offensive weapons and are big in size up front. In order for us to compete with them, we have to win at the service line and pass at a high level."
In the win over Fordham, senior Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska) totaled a season-high 18 kills, while freshman Sofi Cucuz (Crown Point, Ind.) tallied a career-high with 17 slammers. Junior Stephanie Zielinski (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) notched 54 assists - the sixth time with at least 50 - and 12 digs to record her team-leading ninth double-double of the season.
Zielinski picked up Rutgers Student-Athletes of the Month for September for her work on and off the court on Thursday. Click here for the full release.
The Bearcats, the 2010 regular season champions, enter the weekend on a five-match winning streak, having defeated Connecticut, St. John's, Notre Dame and DePaul so far in conference play. The team has five players with at least 100 kills, led by Missy Harpenau (233). Setter Caylin Mahoney was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week this week, having totaled 681 assists this season. UC leads the conference in hitting percentage (.322), assists (14.62) and kills (15.77) in BIG EAST matches.
RU has dropped 10 of the 12 all-time meeting with UC in a series that dates back to 1979. The Bearcats swept the Scarlet Knights last season at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. Rutgers last beat Cincinnati, 3-0, on Sept. 3, 1983 at the Kentucky Invitational.
The Cardinals are the three-time defending BIG EAST Tournament champions and enter the weekend at 4-0 in conference play. Lola Arslanbekova is candidate for BIG EAST Player of the Year, having won Player of the Week three times already this season. The junior leads the conference in kills (6.08 k/s) and points (7.00 p/s) in conference matches.
Rutgers has never defeated UofL, dropping all seven matches. The first meeting was in 1999, with the last six coming in BIG EAST play. Last season, RU opened the conference schedule at Cardinal Arena, falling in three. Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) had 10 kills for the Scarlet Knights, while Zielinski had 30 assists.
Click on the match notes for complete information, including notes, trends, stats and player pages.
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