Volleyball Wraps Season Series With Michigan on the Road Wednesday

Wednesday, November 1

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7 PM

Rutgers University

Michigan

Volleyball Wraps Season Series With Michigan on the Road Wednesday

Oct 31 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Oct. 31, 2017) - Rutgers volleyball plays five of its final eight matches of the season on the road, beginning this week at Michigan on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.

THE SLATE

Wednesday, Nov. 1 | 7 p.m.

Michigan (15-9, 5-7)

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KNIGHT NOTES
• Rutgers started Big Ten play 0-12 overall with straight-set losses to Northwestern on the road and No. 5 Minnesota at home last week. At Northwestern, freshman outside hitter Yana Kamshilina matched a career-high 11 kills and Rutgers out-blocked an opponent for the 11th time this season (fourth in B1G) with a 7-5 edge in the stuff department. Against No. 5 Minnesota, sophomore libero Karysa Swackenberg had a match-high 16 digs, matching her best in a Big Ten match.

• Junior Sahbria McLetchie is Rutgers' top outside hitter with 2.70 kills/set this season, and a team-best 2.62 through 12 conference matches. In back-to-back matches against Buffalo and Seton Hall, she recorded 17 and 19 kills, respectively, before picking up a total of 30 at Indiana and No. 17 Purdue in October. Over her last six Big Ten matches, McLetchie is averaging 2.7 kills/set.

• Freshman opposite hitter Kamila Cieslik posts a team-leading 2.82 kills/set. Cieslik was named to three All-Tournament Teams this preseason, including an MVP performance at the ECU Invitational. She made the Seton Hall Classic All-Tournament Team with 3.67 kills/set on a .424 hitting percentage, four service aces, 14 digs and eight blocks. She was also named to the Kangaroo Klassic All-Tournament Team with 21 kills, seven blocks and 18 digs. She served up at least one ace per match over that stretch with four total.

• Sophomore setter Megan Sharkey has surpassed another milestone after reaching 1,000 career assists at Ohio State. Now with 1,184 career assists, she has moved into ninth all-time in program history and sits behind Roxy Calder's 1,640.

• Sophomore Stasa Miljevic leads the Scarlet Knights at the net defensively with 0.87 blocks/set, followed by sophomore Jasmine Stackhouse's 0.86, pacing a team that has outblocked opponents 11 times this season. Rutgers is 4-7 in those contests, including four in the Big Ten.

• The service line will continue to loom important for Rutgers, who ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 1.25 overall service aces per set. Cieslik leads the team in the department with 33 aces, which ranks second overall in the conference, and has at least one ace in 17 of her last 19 matches. She ranks 50th nationally with 0.40 aces/set. Rutgers is 5-1 when out-acing opponents and 0-17 when it does not.

• Sophomore middle blocker Stasa Miljevic, a transfer from Florida State, has at least five kills in 12 matches this season, and combined for 18 against Michigan and Michigan St. Miljevic boasts a team-best .247 attack percentage, while also contributing to a team-high total of 72 blocks. The sophomore hit .429 against Michigan and Michigan State, bouncing 18 kills with three errors on 35 swings.

• Sophomore libero Karysa Swackenberg has a team-high 2.91 digs/set and has paced her team in the dig department in 14 matches this season. She scooped a match-high 16 against No. 5 Minnesota, her most this season in a three-set match and tied for career-best in a Big Ten match.

SERIES AT A GLANCE
• Michigan improved to 4-0 over Rutgers all-time with a 3-1 victory on Oct. 13 in the College Ave. Gym in New Jersey. This is the first time as opponents in the Big Ten the two programs will meet twice in a season. Last time out, Rutgers won the second set 25-22, hit .474 in the third set, and received 10 kills apiece from Sahbria McLetchie and Stasa Miljevic.

COACHES
• Michigan is guided by Mark Rosen in his 19th year. Rosen is the winningest coach in program history and has coached seven All-Americans with 15 NCAA Tournament appearances.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN (15-9, 5-7 Big Ten)
• Since a four-set win at Rutgers, the Wolverines are 2-3 with wins over Ohio State and Iowa and losses to three Top 10 nationally ranked programs in Penn State, Michigan State and Nebraska.
• Following a 1-1 week, Michigan dropped out of the AVCA Poll this week for the first time this season. The Wolverines began the season ranked 16th in the preseason poll and appeared in the poll for the first seven editions before receiving votes in the last three editions.
• Michigan's highest ranked statistic is hitting percentage, where their .255 average ranks eighth in the Big Ten and 37th nationally. Carly Skjodt, the Sept. 18 Big Ten Player of the Week, leads the way with 3.57 kills/set.
• Setter Mackenzi Welsh has 10.7 assists/set and middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright leads in attack percentage (.326) and blocks/set (1.04).

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Senior setter Talia Holze and redshirt senior Brooke Enners were inducted into the Delta Chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma Society, the first national scholar-athlete society to honor collegiate student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom and in athletic competition. They recognized for their achievements during halftime of the Rutgers football game against Ohio State on Saturday, September 30 in an on-field ceremony.

To earn induction into the honor society, a student-athlete must attend a four-year accredited college or university that is an NCAA or NAIA member, achieve junior status, hold a minimum 3.4 GPA, have an endorsement from their head coach and be of good moral character. Both Holze and Enners were also members of the Fall 2016 Academic All-Big Ten Team and Big Ten Distinguished Scholars for earning GPA's over 3.7. Enners completed the 2016-17 academic year with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

FLOORED
Rutgers volleyball debuted its brand new Taraflex playing surface at the College Ave. Gym upon the opening of 2017 Big Ten play against Iowa on Sept. 22, 2017.

With the floor's installation, the Scarlet Knights become one of just 26 NCAA Division I programs to utilize Gerflor USA's Taraflex floor, the exact surface used at the last 11 Summer Olympic Games. The portable Taraflex floor at Rutgers, featuring RU's signature colors, fonts and logos, is the only one of its kind among collegiate programs in the Northeast region and one of just nine to be used by a Power 5 institution across the nation.

B1G CHALLENGE
With eight matches remaining in the 2017 season, Rutgers will face the third toughest schedule in the nation with the average opponents' winning percentage sitting at .745 with six of eight teams ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll.

The preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 rankings included eight programs from the Big Ten, including four in the Top 10.

Current ranked programs include No. 1 Penn State, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 7 Nebrasa, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 21 Purdue. Rutgers hosts Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Penn State - all of which were ranked in the Preseason Top 25 - this season in the College Ave. Gym.

NATIONAL EXPOSURE
Rutgers appeared twice on national television this season on Oct. 6 at Maryland and on Oct. 20 at Indiana.

AROUND THE WORLD
The Scarlet Knights' roster represents nine states, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas. California and Texas lead the way with two roster entries apiece. RU also has international representation with a total of five players from Israel, Puerto Rico, Serbia or Russia.