NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Oct. 2, 2019) – Rutgers volleyball fell in straight sets to No. 2 Nebraska – the 2018 NCAA Tournament runner-up, on Wednesday night in the College Ave. Gym.
 
The match is in the middle of a three-game stint against teams ranked in the Top 7 of the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Junior right side Beka Kojadinovic hit .312 on her way to a team-best eight kills.
• Sophomore outside Anastasiia Maksimova posted five kills and led the team with five digs.
• The Scarlet Knights hit .308 as a team in the opening set, but Nebraska had a sustained high-efficiency attack with a .468 clip by match-end.
• Rutgers passed out just under 10 assists per set, led by sophomore setter Inna Balyko's 15 and freshman setter Caitlin Kikta's 10. Kikta added what is becoming a trademark for a rookie, a beautiful and deceitful dump kill in the third set.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 | Rutgers hung with the No. 2 ranked team early with junior right side Beka Kojadinovic getting in rhythm on her first kill as part of a 3-1 run. Freshman setter Caitlin Kikta then picked a set out of the net to assist junior Merle Weidt's kill at 6-6. After an RU timeout, Kojadinovic ripped a kill in between a pair of Husker blockers to pull within two points at 13-11. Nebraska used an 8-2 run to pull away and secure the opening set.
• Set 2 | The Cornhuskers were sparked by a pair of 4-0 runs – one early, and one in the middle of set – to take a 16-10 lead. Kojadinovic came alive with four kills in the period, but Nebraska's .400 hitting percentage in the stanza secured a 2-0 advantage.
• Set 3 | Senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse and Maksimova opened the block party for an 8-7 lead, and invited another Stackhouse block with sophomore outside Tali Marmen a few points later to bring RU within 11-9.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Winning the service ace battle, 4-3, Rutgers has now led or tied for the lead in the category in 10 of 14 matches this fall. Marmen, Weidt and senior libero Karysa Swackenberg had the aces for Rutgers on Wednesday night.

QUOTABLE

"I thought in our first set, the offense was clicking," said CJ Werneke. "We hit .308 against the No. 2 team in the nation. They are arguably one of the best defenses in the nation. It says a lot about what we did offensively in the opening set, but I was a little disappointed in our defensive intensity. I think we're better than what we showed, but I also saw some nice things from our side tonight."
 

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights hit the rugged road of the Big Ten at No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT).
 
 
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