Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Sept. 19, 2014
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's volleyball team opened its home slate Friday with the start of the Rutgers Invitational. Rutgers split the first day of the tournament 1-1, defeating Akron (3-1) in its home opener and falling to American (1-3) in its second match.
"I thought we played pretty well in our first match against Akron," said head coach CJ Werneke. "We didn't come out sharp in set one, but we gained the momentum late and didn't look back. I am proud of how we executed at the end. Winning the final three sets in the dominating fashion we did was great to see."
The Scarlet Knights first faced the Zips in a four-set showdown. Junior middle Eden Frazier (Irvine, Calif.) paced the Scarlet Knights with a career-high 12 kills. Frazier also led the team with eight strong blocks. Freshman outside Meme Fletcher (Overland Park, Kan.) notched 10 kills of her own in the victory.
In set one, Rutgers got off to a slow start, falling behind Akron, 9-17. RU picked up the pace, closing their deficit to three with a score of 19-22. The Scarlet Knights continued to rally, dropping a close first set, 22-25.
Carrying their momentum into the second set, the Scarlet Knights grabbed the lead from the onset. RU jumped to a 17-9 lead and never looked back, closing the set 25-13.
Continuing strong, the Scarlet Knights took another early lead to start the third. Up 11-4, Rutgers never let up its control. RU took the third set by a score of 25-19.
With an advantage of 2-1 going into the fourth, Rutgers kept up a solid performance. The Scarlet Knights held the Zips to a score of 25-15 to capture the win in their home opener.
Rutgers returned to action against American for its second game of the day. RU dropped the first two sets, before registering a win in the third. The Scarlet Knights were unable to hold on, falling 1-3 to the Eagles.
"I thought at first we were shocked by the physicality of American and their net play," said Werneke. "After that, we settled in. We had some opportunities in set two and we really battled in set three, but fatigue set in for game four. Overall, I was proud of how our team fought, even when we were down. They continued to give it all they had until the end."
Despite the loss, Fletcher notched the third double-double of her career with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Defensively, junior libero Ali Schroeter (Bakersfield, Calif.) posted 21 digs.
American was led by senior outside Kristyna Lindovska with 10 kills.
The Eagles started set one with four-straight points. Despite back-to-back powerful kills from Fletcher and Lassa to bring the set to 3-8, the Scarlet Knights were not able to pick up the momentum. American never let up, taking the first set 25-9.
Moving into set two, Rutgers bounced back keeping the count balanced until American jumped to a 10-5 lead. The Scarlet Knights posted six-straight points to bring the score to 20-23. RU tacked on one more point before falling 21-25.
Set three started off as a close rally, with both teams trading points. Fletcher notched a powerful kill, directly followed by an ace to tie the score, 6-6. Rutgers tied the set four more times, finally grabbing the lead at 16-17. The teams continued to trade points, but RU held the lead. After an intense volley, Talia Holze (Wheaton, Ill.) notched a kill to bring the score to 22-21. Fletcher registered the final strike for a set score of 25-22, keeping RU alive in the match.
The Scarlet Knights put up another strong fight, but were unable to capitalize on the third set's momentum. American took the final set, 25-13, and the win.
Rutgers continues the weekend at home tomorrow, hosting James Madison at 12:30 p.m. and Princeton at 5:00 p.m.
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