Volleyball Set for No. 2 Nebraska

Wednesday, October 2

New Brunswick, NJ

7:00 PM

Rutgers University

No. 2 Nebraska

Oct 01 | Women's Volleyball

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Scarlet Knights host the 2018 NCAA Tournament runner-up on Wednesday inside the College Ave. Gym

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Oct. 1, 2019) - Rutgers volleyball hosts No. 2 Nebraska, the 2018 NCAA Tournament runner-up and 2017 National Champions, on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. inside the College Ave. Gym.

The Scarlet Knights welcome members of the Rutgers ROTC units, veterans and other military members as we salute them for their service to our country. The first 100 fans will receive a red, white and blue block R magnet.

THE SCOUT

Nebraska (10-1, 2-0 Big Ten) has just one loss on the season, and that came to then-No. 2 Stanford when the Huskers were No. 1 in the nation on Sept. 18. Nebraska is off to a 2-0 start in Big Ten play, with a come-from-behind, five-set victory at No. 20 Illinois on Wednesday before a sweep at Northwestern on Saturday. Preseason All-Big Ten picks Jazz Sweet and Lexi Sun lead the attack with 3.46 and 2.63 kills per set, respectively, while another Preseason All-Big Ten selection in Lauren Stivrins owns the net with 1.20 blocks per set. Nebraska has succeeded with defense, with its .144 opponent hitting percentage ranking 11th in the nation and second in the Big Ten this week.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

KNIGHT NOTES

• Between Sept. 6 and Sept. 14, Rutgers volleyball won two tournaments in a row, six straight matches and 12 consecutive sets for its longest winning streak since 2012, when the program won 12 straight matches for a 14-1 start to the season.

• The Scarlet Knights are once again nationally ranked in blocking - coming in at 22nd place this week with 2.67 per set, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten. RU set a program record for blocks in a season in 2018 with 300 total and 2.63 per set. Rutgers ended the season ranked 27th in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten in blocking last fall.

• Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg was named the Big Ten Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for her performance during the period ending Sept. 8. The honor is the first of its kind for Rutgers since joining the conference in 2014.

• After setting eight school records in 2018, the Scarlet Knights already have two new program marks in the books for 2019. The team set a record for blocks in a four-set match with 18 against Towson on Sept. 6, while sophomore middle Merle Weidt totaled 12 blocks - an individual record for blocks in a four-setter.

• Swackenberg scooped a career-high 27 digs in the five-set match against Grand Canyon on Aug. 31 as she surpassed 1,000 career digs as a Scarlet Knight. She becomes just the eighth player in program history to reach 1,000 digs, and now ranks seventh all-time with 1,120 digs.

• Senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse raised her career total to 340 blocks, which ranks seventh in the all-time record book at Rutgers. Stackhouse was named to the Ellis Rowland Memorial All-Tournament Team at Colgate with 16 blocks in nine sets to go with 21 kills.

• Sophomore setter Inna Balyko was also named to the All-Tournament Team at Colgate with 86 assists, 30 digs and eight kills in three sets, while directing an offense that hit .294 over the weekend without dropping a set. She already ranks ninth all-time in Rutgers history with 1,480 career assists.

• Freshman setter Caitlin Kikta made her collegiate debut with eight assists, four digs and a kill against Michigan last Wednesday in CJ Werneke's first deployment of the 6-2 rotation this season. She bested that assist total on Saturday at Penn State with 12.

TRENDING

• Rutgers has six or more service aces in eight of 13 matches this season.
• RU is 6-2 this season when winning the third set.
• Tali Marmen has led or tied for the team-lead in services aces five times this season.
• Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team blocks in seven of 13 matches.
• Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team service aces in nine of 13 matches.
• Seven Scarlet Knights have 1.5 or more kills per set, while six different RU players have led a match in kills this season.
• Rutgers is undefeated this season when winning the first set (4-0) and when leading in attack percentage (5-0).
• The Scarlet Knights are 5-0 when hitting over .250.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights continue its stretch of three straight matches against the nation's Top 7 teams with a trip to No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT).