Box Score Oct. 17, 2014 Final Stats PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 17, 2014) - Despite putting up a strong fight, the Rutgers women's volleyball team was edged by Michigan on Friday night at the College Ave. Gym. The Scarlet Knights fell in three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-21.
"We had a really good match," said head coach CJ Werneke. "We played pretty consistent from set to set and I really enjoyed the energy from each player being involved. We executed from the get-go. It didn't take us a whole set or half of a set to get going. That gave us a lot of opportunities to get close to our first set win. All you ask as a coach is for the team to go out there and create opportunities. With opportunities, they will continue to learn how capitalize on them."
The Scarlet Knights found strength behind a strong front line, consisting of junior middle Mikaela Matthews (San Diego, Calif.), senior middle Rachel Andreassian (Fredricksburg, Texas) and sophomore middle Lauren Cloyd (Champaign, Ill.). Matthews notched a team-high five blocks, followed by Andreassian and Cloyd with three stops apiece. Rutgers paced Michigan in blocks, 8-6.
Offensively, freshman outside Meme Fletcher (Overland Park, Kan.) registered seven kills, along with a service ace. Matthews added on six kills of her own in the match.
Michigan was led by sophomore middle Abby Cole with 21 kills, registering a .621 hitting percentage on the night. Senior setter Lexi Dannemiller put up 34 assists in the win.
Rutgers got off to its best start in a conference match, trading points with Michigan from the onset of the first set. With the score at 8-8, the Wolverines began to pull away to an 11-8 lead. The Scarlet Knights never let up, tying the count at 13-13. Michigan quickly answered with a four-point run. Back-to-back blocks by the duo of Matthews and Andreassian cut the deficit to one. The Scarlet Knights fought to regain a lead, but the Wolverines sealed the first set, 20-25.
Maintaining the energy from set one, Rutgers kept the count balanced at the start of set two. With both teams exchanging points back-and-forth, neither team was able to break away to a strong lead. In the end, Michigan tacked on four unanswered points to take the second, 25-19.
Although falling 5-1 to start the third, Rutgers showed the resiliency it has possessed all season. The Wolverines held a strong control of the set, but the Scarlet Knights continued their fight. On a run to reclaim the set, Fletcher registered three straight kills to bring the score to 21-24. The momentum was stopped on a kill by freshman outside Caroline Knop to give Michigan the victory.
Rutgers returns to action tomorrow night, hosting Michigan State at the Barn.
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