Volleyball Posts B1G Win in Five-Set Victory Over Northwestern

Sunday, October 27

New Brunswick, NJ

1:00 PM

Rutgers University

7-14, 1-9B1G

Northwestern

9-13, 0-10B1G

Northwestern

Rutgers

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

Volleyball Posts B1G Win in Five-Set Victory Over Northwestern

Oct 27 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Scarlet Knights Post Wins in First Two Sets and Take Deciding Fifth Set For 3-2 Win Over the Wildcats

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers women's volleyball team snapped its Big Ten losing streak on Sunday in tightly contested five-set victory over Northwestern at the College Avenue Gym. The Scarlet Knights took the first two sets (27-25, 26-24) while the Wildcats tied the match with victories in sets three and four (25-16, 25-23) before RU prevailed in the fifth and deciding set (15-10).

STANDOUT STATS

Four Scarlet Knights collected double figure kills led by sophomore outside hitter Tali Marmen with 14 and sophomore middle Merle Weidt with 13.
Junior Beka Kojadinovic set a new career mark in digs with 16, surpassing her previous best of 15 set against Lehigh and Navy in 2018, and dropped in 12 kills.
Sophomore outside hitter Anastasiia Maksimova added a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs.
Sophomore setter Inna Balyko also collected a new career high in assists with 52, besting her previous mark of 49 against St. John's in 2018, and posted 11 digs.
Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg also added 15 digs.

KEY MOMENTS

Set 1 (27-25) | While the Wildcats scored the game's first point, Rutgers rattled off five-straight to take over and led by as many as eight, 20-12, before Northwestern made it a one-point set. Outscoring RU 9-1, the Wildcats tied the set at 22-22 but was never able to take the lead. Northwestern forced three more ties before a Merle Weidt kill and blocks by Jasmine Stackhouse and Beka Kojadinovic gave the Scarlet Knights the 1-0 edge in the match.
Set 2 (26-24) | The Wildcats went in front 10-6 when Rutgers battled back for a 13-13 tie. The set was tied four more times and with the score knotted at 24-24, Stasa Miljevic came thru with the kill and Merle Weidt served up the ace for the win and a 2-0 edge in a Big Ten matchup for the first time since joining the league in 2014.
Set 3 (16-25) | Northwestern stayed in front the entire set hitting .400 for the frame while the Scarlet Knights committed 10 errors.
Set 4 (23-25) | A set that endured 14 ties, neither team led by more than two points. A Beka Kojadinovic kill gave RU a 22-21 edge, but Northwestern would close out the set with four-straight kills and a service ace from Lexi Pitsas for the set victory and tie the match up at 2-2.
Set 5 (15-10) | Rutgers hit .467 in the deciding set and jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Northwestern fought back and a Wildcat service ace form Michelle Lee saw Northwestern trail 11-10. The Scarlet Knights, however, finished out the game taking four-straight points and getting the victory off blocks from Stasa Miljevic and Anastasiia Maksimova.

Victory for the Scarlet Knights! @RUvball comes out of the the 5-set match with a victory over Northwestern! pic.twitter.com/XxceP4JApy
— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) October 27, 2019

KNIGHT NOTES

Jasmine Stackhouse took over sole possession of the Rutgers all-time block assists record in the first set and now has totaled 336 in her four-year career "On The Banks".
The Scarlet Knights registered its best hitting percentage against a Big Ten opponent this season at a .222 clip.
RU captured double figure blocks for the second-straight contest with 11 against the Wildcats.
With her 15 digs, Karysa Swackenberg moved up to third all-time in career digs at Rutgers. She currently has 1,209 and needs 136 more to move into second place.
The victory gave Rutgers its first Big Ten win since a 3-2 victory over Maryland on Oct. 21, 2015.

UP NEXT

The Rutgers women's volleyball team travels to No. 5 Nebraska on Friday, Nov. 1 and continues on to Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 2. Both matches start at 8 p.m. (ET).

Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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