Rutgers Volleyball Travels to the Midwest
Nov 04 | Women's Volleyball
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (November 4, 2011) - Rutgers University will finish its road schedule this weekend, taking on DePaul (Nov. 5, 2 p.m.) and Notre Dame (Nov. 6, 2 p.m.) in a pair of BIG EAST matches. This will be the eighth road trip of the season for the Scarlet Knights.
"Right now we are focused on DePaul," said fourth-year head coach CJ Werneke. "It is a good matchup for us. I think we have the same styles of play; both teams rely on their serving, passing and defense. Fortunately we have been able to do it at a higher level [the last two years]. They have a new coach in her second season so that brings a different type of energy. We have to find a way to go on the road and match their energy and intensity. I know if we do that we will be in good shape."
The Scarlet Knights (8-19, 1-9 BIG EAST) are coming off a five-set loss to Georgetown last Sunday at the College Ave Gym. Freshman Sofi Cucuz (Crown Point, Ind.) had a career-high 22 kills on the day to lead all players. Juniors Stephanie Zielinski (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (50 assists, 16 digs) and Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) (14 kills, 8 blocks) continued their solid play for the Scarlet Knights who fell to 5-6 at home this season. It was the 15th double-double of the season for Zielinski - the most in the BIG EAST.
Senior Kallie Pence (College Station, Texas) enters the weekend with 327 digs this season, currently 10th-most in a season in Rutgers volleyball history. Jones is also in position to move into the record books, needing 14 more kills to qualify for the highest single-season hitting percentage. Heading into the weekend she has hit at a clip of .412 this season. Valerie Clark currently holds the mark with a .386 percentage in 1984. Additionally, Zielinski needs 12 more assists to become the 11th player in Rutgers history to notch 1,000 assists in a season with the potential to move up on the list over the last four matches.
DePaul (6-19, 2-8 BIG EAST) comes in having won two of the last three matches, including a 3-0 victory over St. John's last Friday. In a loss at Connecticut on Sunday, freshman Katie Gamsky registered her third career double-double in the match against Connecticut on Oct. 30, as she tallied 18 digs and 30 assists. Kelsey Bowler - 10th in the BIG EAST with 4.20 digs per set - and Amy Lanski (team-leading 249 kills) are also players to watch for.
Rutgers leads the all-time series against the Blue Demons, 4-3, with the last six meetings coming in BIG EAST play. The Scarlet Knights have won the last two matchups, including a 3-1 Senior Day victory last season at the College Ave Gym. Jones had a match-high 17 kills for RU, while Zielinski had 54 assists and 12 digs. Rutgers first played DPU in 1991 at the DePaul Fall Classic.
Notre Dame (13-9, 6-4 BIG EAST) heads into the weekend right in the thick of the BIG EAST playoff race at 6-4 in the league. The Fighting Irish defeated St. John's in four sets the last time out to improve its conference road record to 4-1. ND is 2-3 in home BIG EAST matches this season. Toni Alugbue is tied for fifth in the league in blocks (1.14 b/s), while the team is third in the conference in the category at 2.58 blocks per set. Jeni Houser leads the team with 239 kills (2.95 k/s) this season.
Rutgers has never beaten Notre Dame in 18 all-time matches in a series that dates back to 1986. The first matchup was played at the Gene Hackerman Volleyball Showcase at Rice University. ND has taken all but one set in the series. This will be RU's ninth trip to Notre Dame. The teams also played in the 2000 BIG EAST Tournament.
Both matches will be available through GameTracker, while the DePaul match will be premium streamed on their official website.
Click on the match notes for complete information, including notes, trends, stats and player pages.
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