Volleyball Set for Repeat with No. 12 Illinois
Nov 14 | Women's Volleyball
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Nov. 14, 2014) - The Rutgers women's volleyball team faces familiar competition, hosting No. 12 Illinois at the College Ave. Gym on Sunday, Nov. 16. The squads met back in October in Champaign, Ill. and will take the court for the second showdown of the season. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
No. 12 Illinois - Nov. 16, 1 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
In its last time out, Rutgers (7-21, 0-15 Big Ten) returned a visit to Indiana on Wednesday night after having hosted the Hoosiers in week two of Big Ten play. RU started off the contest strong as both teams traded points from the onset. After dropping the first set by a close margin of 25-20, the Scarlet Knights continued to fight, pushing set two into extended play. The Hoosiers found a late run to take the second, 27-25. Indiana held on to its momentum to win the third and the match.
Leading the RU offense, junior middle Mikaela Matthews (San Diego, Calif.) registered a team-high 10 kills, while senior setter Nicole Bayer (Concord, Ohio) racked up a team-best 14 assists.
Defensively, the Scarlet Knights paced the Hoosiers in blocks, 9-6. Junior middle Eden Frazier (Irvine, Calif.) led the count with six stops.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
No. 12 Illinois (20-6, 12-3 Big Ten) defeated No. 17 Ohio State in five sets at home on Wednesday night. It marked the sixth ranked opponent Illinois has brought down this season. The Fighting Illini and the Buckeyes went set for set, pushing the match to a deciding stanza. In the end, Illinois recorded a 15-12 win in the fifth to win the match.
Junior outside Jocelynn Birks leads the team in kills (389) and sits at second in digs (261). Birks ranks third in the Big Ten with 3.89 kills per set. Freshman libero Brandi Donnelly also holds a third-place ranking in digs per set (4.62) as she leads the squad with 453 digs on the year.
Head coach Kevin Hambly is in this sixth season with the Illini.
SERIES VERSUS ILLINOIS
Illinois took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series over Rutgers after defeating the Scarlet Knights in the last matchup. The Scarlet Knights faced the Fighting Illini as their second ever Big Ten opponent earlier in the season on Saturday, Sept. 27. In the match, then-No. 16 Illinois captured a three-set win with identical set scores of 25-15 across each stanza.
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