MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (Sept. 15, 2017) – Rutgers volleyball used two of its most productive offensive performances of the season to claim a pair of victories on the opening day of the Robert Morris Invitational on Friday. The Scarlet Knights defeated Pennsylvania and Middle Tennessee State each in four sets.
 
Rutgers (5-6) started the day with a 25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20 result over Penn (3-4), before capping off the afternoon with a comeback 21-25, 26-24, 25-14, 25-18 victory over Middle Tennessee State.
 
"We're happy to go 2-0 to start the weekend," said head coach CJ Werneke. "We got it done two different ways. The first match we had to grind it out, and it wasn't pretty at times, but we stuck it out. In the second, I was impressed with our composure throughout the match, especially in the last three sets to get in a rhythm and get a win."
 
The win over Penn was powered by a season-high 59 kills and three Scarlet Knights in double-figures for kills, including freshman opposite hitter Kamila Cieslik's 20, sophomore opposite hitter Jillian Duffin's 13 and freshman outside hitter Yana Kamshilina's 11. The MTSU victory saw the Scarlet Knights hit a season-best .307, paced by Kamshilina's 11 kills and .667 attack percentage. Sophomore setter Megan Sharkey was the conductor with a total of 86 assists on Friday.
 
"We worked on our offense all week, so it was nice to see it translate to wins this weekend," Werneke said.
 

Rutgers 3, Penn 1

Set 1 | Rutgers 25, Penn 23
RU held an early lead until an 11-11 tie score following a 5-1 Penn run. Cieslik answered by making her mark on a 4-0 spurt with a kill and two service aces to put the Scarlet Knights up 16-12. Sophomore middle blocker Stasa Miljevic's service ace handed Rutgers its largest lead of the set at 19-14, which allowed RU to hold on and take the opener as Penn closed out the stanza with two errors.
 
Set 2 | Rutgers 25, Penn 22
An early Penn advantage was erased by Rutgers 4-0 run as Sharkey passed out kills to Cieslik, Miljevic and Kamshilina for the 6-5 Rutgers lead. The game saw eight different tie scores and three lead chances, the last of which occurred when sophomore middle blocker Jasmine Stackhouse and Duffin combined on a stuff to put Rutgers ahead 18-17. Following two more tie scores, Duffin and Kamshilina went back-to-back on kills and Cieslik sealed the set with a kill and a service ace.
 
Set 3 | Penn 26, Rutgers 24
Penn survived for a fourth game by saving two match points and winning four straight points to erase a 24-22 deficit. In another tight set with eight ties and three lead changes, Rutgers had the upper hand early with a 4-0 start, but Penn used a 5-1 stint to take a 22-18 advantage late in the set. Rutgers rattled off six straight points, capped by three consecutive kills off the hand of Duffin.
 
Set 4 | Rutgers 25, Penn 20
The Scarlet Knights posted their highest hitting percentage of the match at .275 in this set, led by four kills each from Cieslik and Kamshilina. The Quakers only managed one run over two points as Rutgers took a commanding 17-10 lead on a 5-1 spurt midway through the set. Kamshilina had a block and a kill during that run, a precursor to her clinching the match with a kill shortly after.
 

Rutgers 3, Middle Tennessee State 1

Set 1 | MTSU 25, Rutgers 21
Rutgers was chasing for the entirety of Set 1 with a 4-0 hole that grew to 16-11 following an 8-0 run by the Blue Raiders. RU fought back with four straight points down the stretch and a 6-3 overall run to end the set, but MTSU's lead was enough to hold.
 
Set 2 | Rutgers 26, MTSU 24
The closest set of the evening featured seven tie scores and four lead changes. Miljevic and Kamshilina threw down kills, while Miljevic and Cieslik assisted on a block as part of an 8-2 Rutgers run for the 10-8 lead. The advantaged ballooned to 17-11 on a Cieslik kill before the Blue Raiders used a 7-1 run to take the lead, 23-22. Rutgers saved set point on a service error before sophomore libero Karysa Swackenberg served up back-to-back service aces to clinch the game.
 
Set 3 | Rutgers 25, MTSU 14
RU used the momentum of the high-energy second set to roll into the third on a 7-2 spurt. Attack and service errors plagued the Blue Raiders down the stretch as Rutgers won six of the final eight points to coast to pull within one set of winning the match.
 
Set 4 | Rutgers 25, MTSU 19
The final set saw four tie scores before we got to 5-5 before Rutgers took off on a 6-0 run to take control, on the back of kills from Miljevic, Cieslik and Duffin. Rutgers maintained a small, yet seemingly comfortable advantage into the final stages of the set, when Cieslik, Miljevic and Kamshilina bounced kills to end the day with a victory.
 
Match Notes

• Duffin made her 2017 debut by starting the match against Penn and finishing with a career-high 13 kills, three digs and two blocks.
• Sharkey's 51 assists against Penn are a new career high and are tied for the eighth most in program history for a four-set match in the rally-scoring era.
• Cieslik's 20-kill, 10-dig line against Penn is her third double-double of the season.
• Swackenberg led the defense in both ends of the doubleheader with 16- and 12-dig contests.
• RU bounced a season-high 59 kills against Penn.
• Rutgers improves to 5-0 when winning Set 2.
• In the all-time series against Penn, Rutgers moves to 14-8 in their first meeting since 2012. The Scarlet Knights have won six straight in the head-to-head.
• Rutgers defeated Middle Tennessee State in their first ever meeting.
• With 10 service aces against MTSU, Rutgers has now posted 10+ aces in three matches.

 
Up Next
The Scarlet Knights close out the RMU Invitational against the host Colonials at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16. It will be the final sporting contest ever played in Robert Morris' Charles L. Sewall Center, which has hosted RMU volleyball since 1985.
 
 
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