Final Stats

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Nov. 16, 2014) - Despite tight second and third sets, the Rutgers women's volleyball team fell to No. 12 Illinois on Sunday afternoon at the College Ave. Gym. The Scarlet Knights (7-22, 0-16 Big Ten) were topped by the Fighting Illini (21-6, 13-3 Big Ten) by set scores of 25-11, 25-23 and 25-23.

"I thought we had really good performances in the second and third sets," said head coach CJ Werneke. "After losing a close second set, I think we put a lot of pressure on them in the third. We just didn't keep that pressure on them.

"In this league you have to find a way to maintain that. Usually that happens when you serve tough, pass well and play great defense. At the end of the game, when it mattered, we didn't do those three things and it cost us. But we are right there and we continue to have the opportunity to try and figure it out."

In her third start of the season, sophomore outside Micaela Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) led the squad with season-highs in kills (11) and digs (9). Coming off the bench, junior outside Megan Stephenson (Burbank, Calif.) added a season-best seven kills in the match.

On the defensive side, Rutgers led the count in blocks, as middles Mikaela Matthews (San Diego, Calif.) and Lauren Cloyd (Champaign, Ill.) paced the squad with two blocks apiece.

Leading Illinois, sophomore outside Michelle Strizak registered a team-high 12 put downs followed by junior outside Jocelynn Birks with 10 of her own. Defensively, freshman libero Brandi Donnelly paced the team with 11 digs.

On an attack by Matthews from a swift assist by senior setter Nicole Bayer (Concord, Ohio), the Scarlet Knights grabbed the first point of set one, throwing off the Fighting Illini. From that point on, the teams battled back-and-fourth in search of creating a lead. Illinois broke away to a 9-3 advantage that the squad would not relinquish for the rest of set one. The Illini took the first, 25-11.

Moving into the second set, Rutgers picked up its momentum. Trading points from the onset, both teams kept the count tight. After the score was found tied 12 times in the set with six lead changes, Illinois came out on top, 25-23.

Rutgers took control in the third set. The Scarlet Knights took advantage of a shaken up Illini defense to create an early 16-9 lead. Illinois began to close its deficit on a four point run to make the score 18-17, but Rutgers would not let up. RU stayed ahead in the count, until Illinois moved in front, 20-19. The Illini would not hold the lead for long as the Scarlet Knights quickly tied up the count, 20-20, on a kill from Anderson. The teams moved into an intense rally to create a 23-23 score on the board. In the end, Illinois' Strazik knocked down a kill to close set three with a final total of 25-23.

Up next, Rutgers travels to West Lafayette, Ind. on Nov. 19 to take on Purdue for the second time this season. The match is set to start at 7 p.m.

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-RU-