Final Stats

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Nov. 26, 2014) - The Rutgers women's volleyball team snatched its first set victory over a ranked opponent on Wednesday night against No. 2 Wisconsin at the College Ave. Gym. The Scarlet Knights claimed a win in set one, before falling to the Badgers in a four-set match by scores of 22-25, 25-13, 25-11 and 25-13.

Rutgers (7-25, 0-19 Big Ten) joins a group of three other Big Ten opponents to steal a set win from Wisconsin (27-2, 18-1 Big Ten). Prior to tonight's game, the Badgers had only faced defeat in seven total sets of conference action, sweeping 14 opponents in its 18 matchups. The Badgers dropped three straight to then-No. 3 Penn State for its only loss in conference play, while dropping at least one set to Illinois on two occasions and once to Michigan.

"Set one was probably the best set we have played all year. We executed at a very high level in all areas of play," said head coach CJ Werneke. "It was a complete set and a complete set is what it takes to win, especially against the number two team in the nation. It is good to see that we can achieve that. We proved that we can hang with the best and now we just have to find out how to do that more consistently."

In Wednesday night's contest, senior Rachel Andreassian (Fredricksburg, Texas) knocked down a team-high eight kills in the match, five of which came in the second set alone. Sophomore middle Lauren Cloyd (Champaign, Ill.) recorded seven kills, contributing four to the first set victory.

The Scarlet Knights outblocked the Badgers 10-8 on the night, including a 4-1 advantage in set one. Junior middle Mikaela Matthews (San Diego, Calif.) and Cloyd teamed up to create a solid front line at the net, tallying six stops apiece. In the back row, juniors Ali Schroeter (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Alex Lassa (Eagle, Colo.) led the team with 14 digs each. The total marked a season-high for Lassa.

The Badgers were led by senior rightside hitter Courtney Thomas as she recorded a match-high 22 kills. The Big Ten setter of the week, Lauren Carlini, dished out a total of 30 assists in the victory.

Wisconsin started off set one with the lead. However, RU would not let the UW get ahead by more than one point in the count as the score was tied four times to begin the match. With the count 5-5, the Badgers found a three-point run to create the largest margin at 8-5, but a kill from Andreassian shut down their momentum. From that point on the count remained balanced as a total of five different Scarlet Knights dished out kills to tie the set at 15-15. The Badgers added on two more points before junior Ronnie Komisarek (San Mateo, Calif.) notched a service ace for the final tied score of 17-17 in set one.

Rutgers would go on a six point run, highlighted by three blocks from the duo of Matthews and Cloyd, to generate a 22-17 advantage over Wisconsin. The Badgers attempted to recover from the deficit, cutting the Scarlet Knights lead to 24-20. Ultimately, RU held off UW to secure a first set victory, 25-22.

Moving into the set two, the second-ranked Badgers created an early 6-1 lead. Andreassian delivered two kills to cut the deficit to 9-5. Wisconsin continued to pull away in the count, but Rutgers kept the score within at most a six-point margin. The Badgers found their largest lead of the night with the count at 22-11, but Andreassian knocked down her fourth kill of the set to cut into the advantage. RU struggled to close the gap, as UW claimed a 25-13 win in the second.

With the match tied 1-1 headed into the third set, Wisconsin would go on to take control of the game, holding Rutgers behind in the count for the rest of the contest. The Badgers took wins in sets three and four by scores of 25-11 and 25-13, respectively, to seal their 18th consecutive victory.

Rutgers returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 29, hosting No. 20 Ohio State for senior night at the College Ave. Gym. Seniors Nicole Bayer (Concord Ohio), Lea Williams (Plainsboro, N.J.) and Andreassian will be honored in a pre-match ceremony.

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