Box Score Kingston, R.I. (Sept. 12, 2014) - The Rutgers women's volleyball team fell to Cincinnati by a decision of 3-1 (20-25, 14-25, 25-21, 11-25) in its opening match of the Art Carmichael Invitational.
"We simply got away from our identity. We are known as a strong serving, passing and defensive team and we did not execute in those areas the way we needed to today," said head coach CJ Werneke.
Sophomore middle Lauren Cloyd (Champaign, Ill.) paced RU with 10 kills, followed by junior middle Eden Frazier (Irvine, Calif.) with nine kills of her own. Junior setter Anna Sudbury notched a team-high 20 assists in the match.
Defensively, senior libero Ali Schroeter (Bakersfield, Calif.) led the team with 19 digs.
Cincinnati was led by junior Emma Roberson with 20 kills.
The former conference foes came to play, starting the first set as a true rally. Rutgers and Cincinnati traded points from the onset with neither team able to take control of the set. The Bearcats grabbed the biggest lead for either team with the score at 12-8, but Rutgers responded quickly, bringing the score to 14-14. The pace stayed constant, until the Bearcats notched four-straight points to win the set 25-20.
Moving to the second set, Cincinnati kept its momentum up, jumping to an 8-0 start. The Bearcats maintained a strong lead throughout the set, but the Scarlet Knights continued to hold on. Ultimately, Rutgers was unable to reduce the deficit, dropping the set 14-25.
Rutgers found a spark in set three, notching an early 10-6 lead. The Scarlet Knights never let up their control, keeping the Bearcats behind at least four points. Rutgers took the set, 25-21, to stay alive in the match.
Despite their efforts in the third, the Scarlet Knights fell behind, 3-11, at the start of the fourth. Rutgers tacked on a few more points, before dropping the set 11-25.
RU will next face NJIT at 5 p.m. for its second match of the day.
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