Volleyball Wraps Up Road Trip at No. 17 Michigan & Michigan St.

Friday, September 28

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7 PM

Rutgers University

No. 17 Michigan

Volleyball Wraps Up Road Trip at No. 17 Michigan & Michigan St.

Sep 27 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes vs. Michigan State on BTN Plus

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Sept. 27, 2018) - Rutgers volleyball finishes a four-match Big Ten road trip at No. 17 Michigan on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. before facing Michigan State on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. The Scarlet Knights are amid a schedule playing four straight teams ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA National Poll. Michigan State is receiving votes this week.

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HEAD-TO-HEAD

KNIGHT NOTES
• The Scarlet Knights are ranked seventh in the NCAA with 2.92 blocks per set through matches played on Sept. 23. They come in third in the Big Ten behind national leader Penn State's mark of 3.18 and Minnesota's 3.00. Rutgers has outblocked opponents in 12 of 15 matches this season.

• Rutgers is without the services of Stasa Miljevic, whose 1.51 blocks per set has her name appearing in the NCAA statistical rankings with a 12th place national standing as of Sept. 23. Miljevic suffered a season-ending injury at Maryland on Sept. 19.

• Rutgers has set three school records early in the 2018 season. All records are from the 25-point rally-scoring era beginning in 2008.
   • Rutgers - 14 service aces vs. Coppin State (Aug. 31)
   • Inna Balyko - 47 assists in a three-set match vs. Howard (Sept. 7)
   • Stasa Miljevic - 10 blocks in a four-set match vs. Navy (Sept. 8)

• Freshman setter Inna Balyko earned the program's first Big Ten weekly award with a Freshman of the Week honor for the period ending Sept. 2. At the Crosstown Tournament at Lehigh and Lafayette, the Russia native posted two double-doubles, averaging 10.21 assists and totaling 14 blocks while directing Rutgers' .271 attack percentage.

• Freshman outside hitter Tali Marmen joined the roster on Sept. 7 following a stint with the Israel National Team in the 2018 European Silver League. The 6-foot-2 hitter ranked ninth in the Euro League with 2.79 kills per set, and has also led her club team Maccabi XT Haifa to the 2018 Israeli National Championship. She has averaged 2.59 kills per set through her first seven matches, and has hit .333 in her first two Big Ten contests.

• Senior outside hitter Sahbria McLetchie was named to UConn's Dog Pound Challenge All-Tournament Team with 44 kills (3.67 per set) on a .255 attack percentage, along with 13 total blocks. She leads Rutgers with 3.26 kills per set this season.

• Junior middle Jasmine Stackhouse was named to the Rutgers Invitational All-Tournament team with 26 kills on a .426 hitting percentage and 14 blocks. She accounted for 33 points during the weekend, ranking second on the team. Stackhouse ranks
45th nationally and 10th in the B1G with her season .374 hitting percentage.

• Junior libero Karysa Swackenberg notched her third career 20-dig match at UConn on Sept. 14. She has led Rutgers in digging in seven of the last eight matches.

• Statistical categories show major improvement heading into Big Ten play as compared to 2017. Rutgers' kills per set (+1.5), hitting percentage (+.041), digs per set (+2.0) and blocks per set (+1.1) are all up significantly over last season at this point.

UP NEXT
Rutgers hosts its Big Ten opener at the College Ave. Gym on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. against Ohio State. Maryland comes to town to finish the two-match season series on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.