Final Stats

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (August 8, 2016) - The Rutgers (4-6) volleyball team stumbled on day two of Hilton Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge, suffering straight set losses to Cleveland State (7-2) and Temple (4-3).

Senior right side Lauren Cloyd earned All-Tournament honors after leading the team with a .310 hitting percentage and a total of 34 kills. The senior averaged 3.40 kills per set on the weekend.

GAME ONE
Despite a close margin in the second set, Rutgers fell in three sets to Cleveland State by scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 25-18.

Cloyd led the squad with a .700 hitting percentage, racking up 14 kills on 20 attempts and no errors. Fifth-year senior Mikaela Matthews posted a match-high seven blocks in the contest.

Cleveland State was led by Grace Kauth with 12 kills followed by Sara Skeens with 11 of her own. Gina Kilner contributed 35 assists in the win.

Although the score remained balanced at 7-7 to start set one, Cleveland State broke away to a 18-12 edge en route to a win in the first. Moving into set two, Rutgers opened the frame with a 9-6 lead. However, CSU regained its momentum from the set before, tying the score up four times before reclaiming the lead at 16-15. After the Vikings grew their lead to 22-20, RU rattled off three consecutive points capped by a block by junior Meme Fletcher and sophomore Tiaja McKnight to give the Scarlet Knights a chance with the count matched at 22-22. However, CSU was able to hold off RU for a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The teams continued to trade points into the third set as Rutgers kept the score balanced, 8-8. From there, Cleveland State separated the margin to a 16-10 lead. The Scarlet Knights cut their deficit to as little as three on two occasions, but it is as close as they would come for the remainder of the match.

GAME TWO
Rutgers dropped its second match of the day to Temple in three sets by scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-18.

Matthews led RU with five kills and six blocks, while Cole Trimble, Fletcher, Cloyd also posted five kills each.

Temple was paced by Irem Asci with 11 kills, while Kyra Coundourides added in 30 assists.

Despite falling behind early in set one, the Scarlet Knights kept it a two-point deficit at 6-4. The Owls then jumped to an 11-4 lead, claiming control of the stanza the rest of the way. Temple never let up to take a 25-13 win in the first.

After TU carried its momentum into the second stanza on its way to a 2-0 lead in the match, Rutgers discovered a rhythm in the third frame. Although trailing in the count, the Scarlet Knights kept the margin as little as one as back-to-back blocks for the duo of Trimble and Matthews set the score at 6-5. The teams continued to trade points as the Owls kept an edge. RU picked away at the TU lead, holding the count at 17-15. However, the Scarlet Knights were unable to stay alive in the match, falling 25-18 in the final set.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights open their home slate by hosting the Rutgers Invitational from Sept. 15-17. RU will welcome Princeton, Seattle and Seton Hall to the College Ave Gym for its final nonconference tournament of the season.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers competed against two of 11 NCAA qualifiers that it's set to cross paths with this season in New Hampshire and Cleveland State.

• Lauren Cloyd was named the all-tournament team after leading RU in kills on the weekend with 3.40 kills per set and a total of 34 kills.

• Mikaela Matthews led RU with 1.60 blocks per set on the weekend, including a total of 16 blocks.

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