Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA, PA. (Sept. 9, 2016) – Despite a strong showing in the third set, the Rutgers volleyball team fell to New Hampshire on day one of the Hilton Penn's Landing Cherry & White Challenge hosted by Yale. The Scarlet Knights dropped the four-set match by set scores of 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, and 13-25.

Rutgers moved to an overall record of 4-4 on the season, while New Hampshire improved to a mark of 4-4 as well.

Senior right side Lauren Cloyd led the squad with a match-high 15 kills, two shy of her career-best. Classmate Cole Trimble and freshman right side Jillian Duffin followed with seven kills each.

Two Wildcats posted double-digits in the kills' column as Emily Tanski paced the staff with a double-double, including10 kills and 14 digs. Courtney Bowman posted a team-high 12 kills in the win.

After struggling to take a lead in set one, Rutgers bounced back in set two by jumping to a 10-5 edge. UNH responded with a 7-2 run to tie the score, 12-12. Although the Wildcats then moved in front during a point-for-point battle, it was not for long as a Megan Sharkey kill followed by a Meme Fletcher and Jasmine Stackhouse block reclaimed the RU lead, 16-14. The Scarlet Knights held the edge until the Wildcats rebalanced the score, 19-19. A battle ensued again for the lead with the count tied four times. However, UNH tacked on the final two points for its second consecutive set win of the contest.

The teams traded points to start the third frame continuin to knot the score on seven occasions with RU holding a slight advantage throughout. The Scarlet Knights used their momentum to string together three consecutive points for the largest gap since the start of the stanze at 12-9. Leading 17-15, back-to-back kills for Trimble ignited the RU offense to pull away to a 21-15 advantage. A kill for Cloyd sealed the set win, 25-18, to keep the Scarlet Knights alive in the match.

UNH regained its rhythm with a 9-4 edge to open set four. RU rallied a 4-0 run capped by an ace for Fletcher to cut into the deficit 9-8. However, the Wildcats ended the surge by pulling away to a 25-13 win the final frame.

UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to action with for day two with Cleveland State at 12:30 p.m. and host Temple at 6 p.m.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Lauren Cloyd led the Scarlet Knights with a season-high 15 kills, a total that is two shy of her career-best.
• Karysa Swackenberg added a career-high 22 digs in the contest, also marking a match-high total for RU this season.
• Cole Trimble registered a .357 hitting percentage to pace the team.
• Nine different Scarlet Knights contributed at least one kill in the contest.

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