Rutgers University
Lehigh
Scarlet Knights Sweep Away Lehigh
Sep 13 | Women's Volleyball
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (September 13, 2011) – With the “Red Alert” in effect at the College Ave Gym, Rutgers volleyball swept away Lehigh, 3-0, on Tuesday night to end the four-game homestand on a high note. Junior setter Stephanie Zielinski (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) recorded 31 assists to move into fourth on the Rutgers all-time list.
It was the second sweep of the season for the Scarlet Knights (6-7), who defeated UT Pan-American in three at the Sam Houston State Invitational (Aug. 27).
“Looking at the stats, we limited our errors tonight and that gave us an opportunity to fight another day and play good defense, contend for blocks and get better swings,” said head coach CJ Werneke after the match. “There is something to say about making the other team earn points, and that is what we did tonight.”
Sofi Cucuz (Crown Point, Ind.) led the Scarlet Knights with 14 kills, while Hannah Curtis (Wasilla, Alaska) and Tiffany Regmund (Bryan, Texas) each recorded seven. Rutgers hit a .253 clip on the night and picked up 43 kills compared to 22 from Lehigh.
Zielinski passed Abbey Martin in career assists on a Regmund kill early in the second set. She now has 2,288 for her career. Sheri Kujawa holds the all-time mark with 4,622 helpers.
“It feels great,” said Zielinski. “[Moving up the career assists list] has been a goal for me and I am really excited about it. Every part of our game came together tonight. We really wanted to work on hitting and serving and our hitters really stepped up.”
On the defensive end, senior Kallie Pence (College Station, Texas) registered 12 digs from her libero position.
Paige Kruse led the Mountain Hawks (4-5) with eight kills.
The Scarlet Knights will head to University Park, Pa. this weekend to participate in the Penn State Classic. The tournament will feature matches against Florida Gulf Coast, No. 5 Penn State and Long Island, starting on Friday afternoon.
