Box Score Nov. 29, 2014

Final Stats

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Nov. 26, 2014) - In its 2014 season finale, the Rutgers women's volleyball team was topped on senior night by No. 20 Ohio State at the College Ave. Gym. The Buckeyes (21-11, 12-8 Big Ten) took three straight sets over the Scarlet Knights (7-26, 0-20 Big Ten) by scores of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-17.

"Tonight culminates the year and the thing that always sticks out in my mind is that these girls never gave up," said head coach CJ Werneke. "With the wins and with the losses that mounted up it can take a toll on you, but these girls kept fighting. They kept going and giving us all they had and that is a good culture to have starting in a new conference. I am proud of how we improved statistically, but I am more proud of how we continued to fight throughout the year against the best competition in the nation."

Prior to the start of the tonight's match, Rutgers honored its three seniors Rachel Andreassian (Fredricksburg, Texas), Nicole Bayer (Concord, Ohio) and Lea Williams (Plainsboro, N.J.) for their careers "On the Banks."

Andreassian tied her season-high to lead the team with nine kills, while Bayer added a team-best 17 assists in the match. Williams recorded her first collegiate kill to give Rutgers its first point of the night.

Leading the Buckeyes, freshman outside Luisa Schirmer registered a match-high 17 kills. Senior setter Taylor Sherwin also dished out a match-high with 44 assists in the win.

As all three seniors earned the starting nod, Williams knocked down her first career kill to put the Scarlet Knights on the board first in set one. Andreassian added on a kill of her own on an assist from Bayer to help guide Rutgers to a 4-1 lead to start the night. Ohio State responded with three unanswered points to even the count 4-4.

The set turned into a rally as the score was found tied three more times before OSU moved ahead to an 11-7 advantage. A kill from Andreassian cut RU's deficit to one with a score of 11-10. The Buckeyes continued to pull ahead on a seven-point run to set the count at 18-11, but the Scarlet Knights countered with a run of their own making the score 18-16. RU's late momentum was not enough to top OSU as the Buckeyes took the first set, 25-18.

The Scarlet Knights got off to a slow start in set two, falling behind 4-0. Back-to-back kills from Andreassian and junior Mikaela Matthews (San Diego, Calif.) ended the drought for RU, but OSU continued to move ahead. The Buckeyes held strong control of the set, ultimately closing the stanza with a score of 25-13.

Set three played out no different than the one prior as Ohio State grabbed an early lead from the onset. Buckeye Luisa Schirmer added eight total kills in the set to help OSU hold control of the stanza. Despite six different Scarlet Knights adding on at least one kill in the outing, it was not enough for RU to bounce back. Ohio State closed the set 25-17 and the match.

With tonight's 2014 finale, Rutgers concludes its inaugural regular season in the Big Ten Conference.

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-RU-