LINCOLN, Neb. – Rutgers volleyball was unable to overcome one of the nation's top defenses on Friday night as No. 8 Nebraska, the 2018 national runner-up, took a 25-10, 25-10, 25-20 victory in front of a home crowd of 8,141 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Sophomore setter Inna Balyko collected her eighth double-double of the season with 18 assists and 11 digs.
• Sophomore outside hitter Anastasiia Maksimova led the offense with nine kills.
• Rutgers outblocked Nebraska, 6-3, marking the third-straight match the Scarlet Knights have led the category.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (10-25) | Anastasiia Maksimova's kill saw RU trail, 7-4, but the Huskers would take a 9-1 run enroute to the first set win. The Huskers hit .500 with 17 kills and committed only two errors.
• Set 2 (10-25) | The Scarlet Knights had a late set surge outscoring Nebraska down the stretch, 6-4, but RU was unable to overcome the strong Husker start. Nebraska opened with 11-straight points before committing an attack error to stop the drought. Merle Weidt and Kamila Cieslik at the net followed by a Cieslik kill would put together back-to-back points for the Scarlet Knights but the Huskers held a commanding 14-3 advantage. Trailing 21-4, Rutgers went on its late run which was fueled by kills from Tali Marmen and Anastasiia Maksimova contributing a kill and block.
• Set 3 (20-25) |Tied at 5-5, Nebraska would pull ahead by five points, but RU closed the gap with a pair of 3-0 runs. On the first run, a pair of Anastasiia Maksimova kills saw the Scarlet Knights down 12-10. While back-to-back points from Lexi Sun gave the Huskers a cushion, Rutgers rattled off three-consecutive points again with a Kamila Cieslik service ace cutting RU's deficit to one, 14-13. The Huskers responded with a 6-0 run, but Rutgers countered with five-straight points. The Scarlet Knights went on to outscore Nebraska 6-1 with the swing from Stasa Miljevic closing the deficit to 21-19. The Huskers, however, prevailed taking four of the match's next five points for the victory.

KNIGHT NOTES

• With her 18 assists, Inna Balyko moved into seventh all-time in assists with 1,733.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights head to Iowa to meet the Hawkeyes on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. (ET) at Hawkeye-Carver Arena.
 
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