NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Sept. 29, 2017) – Rutgers volleyball dropped a Big Ten match to Northwestern in straight sets (25-19, 25-13, 25-12) on Friday evening in the College Ave. Gym.
 
Northwestern (11-4, 1-2 Big Ten) was powered by a .485 attack percentage, the fifth best mark in program history. Rutgers (5-10, 0-3) was paced by freshman opposite hitter Kamila Cieslik's 10 kills on a .364 hitting clip, giving the rookie nine games this season with double-digit kills and her first against a Big Ten opponent.
 
Set 1 | Northwestern 25, Rutgers 19
The skintight opening set saw 14 tie scores all the way to a 14-14 score. Sharkey scored for Rutgers on a dump kill then passed an assist to Cieslik for the 8-7 RU lead. Northwestern struck first with a 3-0 run, which turned into a 6-1 spurt for the Wildcats' 21-15 lead. Cieslik bounced two kills down the stretch for a total of five in the opener.
 
Set 2 | Northwestern 25, Rutgers 13
Cieslik continued to lead Rutgers offensively with another three kills on zero errors in the second set, but the Wildcats used early 4-0 and 5-0 runs to take control of the set with plenty of time to coast to a commanding 2-0 lead. NU hit .600 in the game on 11 kills and two errors on 15 swings.
 
Set 3 | Northwestern 25, Rutgers 12
Northwestern didn't let off the gas, taking a lightning quick 5-0 lead before junior outside hitter Sahbria McLetchie got Rutgers on the board. Two more McLetchie kills got the Scarlet Knights within three at 10-7 before NU scored three straight on a kill and consecutive service aces, prompting an RU timeout down 13-7. Following a kill from Rutgers' sophomore middle blocker Stasa Miljevic to set the score at 18-10, Northwestern won seven of the final nine points to ice the victory.
 
KNIGHT NOTES
• The Wildcats remain undefeated against Rutgers in four tries since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten in 2014.
• Miljevic's three blocks and Cieslik's 10 kills tied season-highs for Rutgers in Big Ten play through three contests. The squad's three service aces and .162 hitting percentage on Friday were season-highs for Big Ten matches.
• McLetchie finished with seven kills, sophomore setter Megan Sharkey notched 22 assists and ends the evening 38 away from 1,000 for her career, and sophomore libero Karysa Swackenberg paced the Rutgers backline for the ninth time this season with seven digs.
 
Up Next: The Scarlet Knights host Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 1 at noon in the College Ave. Gym.
 
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