MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Oct. 5, 2019) – Rutgers volleyball (6-9, 0-4) forced No. 7 Minnesota (10-2, 4-0) to a fourth set in Saturday evening's Big Ten setback, marking the Scarlet Knights' first set win against an AVCA Top 10 opponent since 2014.
The match also marked Rutgers' third straight match against a team ranked in the Top 7 of the current national coaches' poll after playing at No. 5 Penn State last Saturday and hosting No. 2 Nebraska on Wednesday.
The Scarlet Knights hit .353 in a 25-19 third set triumph, leading to a Big Ten season-high .207 team hitting percentage on the night.
- Four Scarlet Knights had double-figure kills, led by senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse's career-high 13 on a .478 swing percentage. Junior right side Beka Kojadinovic added 12 on a .385 hitting clip, while sophomore outside Anastasiia Maksimova and sophomore middle Merle Weidt each chipped in 11.
- Weidt added a match-high eight total blocks, including two solo stops as Rutgers out-blocked the Gophers, 13-9.
- Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg was superb defensively with a match-high 17 digs.
- Sophomore setter Inna Balyko recorded her first double-double of the Big Ten schedule with 44 assists and 10 digs.
- Kojadinovic notched the second double-double of her junior season with 11 digs to go with her 12 kills.
- Set 2 | Rutgers made a run at tying the match in the second set as sophomore outside Tali Marmen put together a block assist, a kill and a service ace during a 6-1 Rutgers rally for an 11-9 lead. After three tie scores, the Gophers broke a 14-14 deadlock with a 12-6 run to close the set, 25-20.
- Set 3 | Weidt sparked a 5-2 run in the middle of the set with two blocks and a kill to hand Rutgers a 15-12 lead it would not relinquish. Following a Minnesota timeout and two straight Gopher points to pull within two at 19-17, Rutgers used efficient hitting to claim its highest ranked set win since 2014. Weidt, Marmen, Maksimova, Kojadinovic and Stackhouse all had kills and the Scarlet Knights won the final four points of the set for the 25-19 win.
- Set 4 | An early 5-0 run put Minnesota back on track, and a latter 4-0 run cemented a 22-9 lead on the Gophers' way to a four-set victory at home.
- Rutgers' last set win against a Top 10 team came at home against No. 2 Wisconsin on Nov. 26, 2014, when the Scarlet Knights took the opening set over the Badgers, 25-22.
- With her 17 digs, Swackenberg moved into sixth place all-time at Rutgers with 1,140 career digs, surpassing Stephanie Zielinski (2009-12).
- Balyko surpassed the 1,500-assist milestone and now has 1,540 career helpers "On the Banks."
- Rutgers' .208 hitting percentage was its highest in a Big Ten match since hitting .227 last season against Penn State on Oct. 20, 2018.
- Stackhouse set her career-high in kills against the No. 7 team in the nation, moving past her previous mark of 11 against Grand Canyon in the third match of the 2019 season. The .385 hitting percentage is also a career high.
- Weidt's eight blocks matches a career high in a Big Ten match, the third time the sophomore has recorded eight blocks against a conference opponent.
The Scarlet Knights return home to host a Big Ten weekend against Ohio State on Friday, Oct. 11 and against Maryland on Saturday, Oct. 12. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. inside the College Ave. Gym.
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