GREENVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 25, 2017) – Rutgers volleyball opened the 2017 season with a 3-1 loss against Georgia State in the East Carolina Invitational by set scores of 25-8, 25-15, 24-26, 25-23.
Freshman opposite hitter
Kamila Cieslik shined in her collegiate debut with a team-high 11 kills on a .474 hitting percentage to go with five digs and three blocks. Senior outside hitter
Meme Fletcher added nine kills and eight digs, sophomore setter
Megan Sharkey came one assist shy of a career high with 28, while junior libero
Phallynn Hill paced the defense with nine digs.
"Give credit to Georgia State," said head coach
CJ Werneke. "They did enough to beat us, they put the pressure on us and we didn't respond. The day got the best of us. Once we settled down, we let the big moments get the best of us. We just had to do too much chasing, and you can't play winning volleyball that way."
The chase was on early for the Scarlet Knights, who fell behind 10-0 to start opening game before freshman opposite hitter
Beka Kojadinovic's first collegiate kill and a bounce by Fletcher put Rutgers on the board with back-to-back points. The GSU start was unsurmountable and the Panthers took Game 1 by a score of 25-8.
Down 11-5 in Game 2, Rutgers used a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to 13-11, sparked by two Kojadinovic kills and capped with an ace from sophomore middle blocker
Stasa Miljevic. But the Panthers answered the run with a 7-0 spurt of their own before sophomore middle blocker
Jasmine Stackhouse and Cieslik halted the momentum with a pair of kills down the stretch. With a comfortable lead, Georgia State closed out the second game with a 3-1 run.
The third game saw a big lead for Rutgers midway through, but a seesaw finish featuring five tie scores and three lead changes. Down 7-4, the Scarlet Knights strung together six straight points and a 7-1 run overall powered by Fletcher and Stackhouse kills, and two more aces from Miljevic. RU built the advantage to 18-12 with an ensuing 5-1 stint.
The Panthers battled back to tie the score at 21-21 following a 4-0 run. Cieslik's sixth kill of the set put Rutgers up 22-21, setting up a back-and-forth rally to a 23-23 tie score.
"She's very steady," Werneke said of Cieslik's debut. "She never gets too high or low, and this what we've come to expect after seeing her in practice. She's efficient and brings steady, disciplined energy. That's what it takes to be a well-rounded volleyball player at this level."
Also making a debut, freshman outside hitter
Yana Kamshilina's brilliant dig led to a Sharkey-Cieslik connection and the 24-23 lead. From the 24-24 tie score, Sharkey passed out back-to-back kills to Cieslik and Fletcher for the first set win of the 2017 season.
Rutgers continued the momentum into the fourth game with a quick 3-0 lead. Behind 19-17 later in the set, four straight GSU attack errors handed Rutgers a 21-19 lead, but the Scarlet Knights handed it back with four consecutive hitting errors and trailed 23-21. Kamshilina's kill brought Rutgers within one points at 24-23 before the Panthers claimed win No. 1.
.
Match Notes
- Georgia State of the Sun Belt Conference claims the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
- Cieslik paced the third-set victory with a .600 hitting percentage on 6-of-10 tries with zero errors.
- Senior setter Talia Holze saw her first action of the match late in the third game, a immediately passed out an assist in the tense closing moments of the set. The captain finished with four assists and a dig.
- Transfers Sahbria McLetchie and Miljevic made their Rutgers debuts, while freshmen Kojadinovic, Cieslik and Kamshilina each made their first collegiate appearances. All five of the debutants registered kills in the opening match of 2017.
- Miljevic claimed responsibility for 10 points on Friday with four kills, three service aces and four block assists.
Up Next
The Scarlet Knights continue the ECU Invitational with games against William & Mary and the host Pirates on Saturday, Aug. 26 at noon and 7 p.m.
