Sunday, November 24
New Brunswick, NJ
12:00 PM
Rutgers
vs
Penn State
Photo by: Rich Graessle
Volleyball Begins Three-Game Homestand With No. 8 Penn State
Nov 22 | Women's Volleyball
Lady Lions First Of Three Top Ten Teams Coming To College Ave Gym To Close Out The 2019 Season
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's volleyball team begins a three-game homestand against a trio of top 10 programs beginning with No. 8 Penn State on Sunday afternoon at noon.
The Scarlet Knights closes out the 2019 campaign hosting No. 7 Minnesota on Friday, Nov. 29 and No. 5 Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 30. Both matches being at 7 p.m. at the College Avenue Gym.
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| HEAD-TO-HEAD |
| ABOUT RUTGERS |
- Rutgers is back to the College Avenue Gym for its final three matches of the 2019 campaign featuring the gauntlet of Big Ten opponents in No. 8 Penn State, No. 7 Minnesota and No. 5 Wisconsin.
- On Wednesday, the Scarlet Knights took to the road one final time this season falling to No. 17 Purdue. Junior Beka Kojadinovic led the attack with eight kills, with sophomore Inna Balyko registering 14 assists. On defense, Balyko and senior libero Karysa Swackenberg collected nine digs apiece.
- In the last meeting against the Lady Lions back on Sept. 28, the Scarlet Knights fell 25-15, 25-20, 25-14 as Rutgers managed to edge Penn State in digs, 35-33. Junior right side Kamila Cieslik paced the Rutgers attack with seven kills on a .357 attack clip while senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse put up four blocks to go with her six kills. Swackenberg led all defenders with 13 digs, and served up Rutgers' lone ace.Additionally, freshman setter Caitlin Kikta set a new career-high with 13 assists while sophomore Inna Balyko had 14.
- Balyko has put together five double-doubles (assists/digs) in the last eight outings and has 11 on the season. Stringing together five-straight double-double between Oct. 27 - Nov. 9 in matches that included the first meeting with Northwestern, No. 8 Nebraska, Iowa, No. 15 Purdue and Indiana, Balyko averaged 9.29 assists/set and 3.35 digs/set during the span. On the year she is averaging 8.49 assists/set and 2.45 digs/set.
- Senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse continued up the all-time block total charts after a trio last weekend put her into fourth place on the list. With 372 total blocks during her four years "On The Banks", Stackhouse needs six more to surpass Mary Kiriakou (1998-01) for third on the list.
| ABOUT PENN STATE |
- The Lady Lions enter the College Ave. Gym at 22-4 overall and 15-2 in Big Ten action having won five straight and 13 of their last 14 matches. The lone Big Ten losses came with a 3-1 loss at Wisconsin on Oct. 2 and a 3-2 loss at Nebraska on Nov. 2.
- Penn State boasts the Big Ten's second-best offense hitting .277, which ranks 14th nationally, while also limiting opponent defense to a league second-best .172 hitting percentage.
- Additionally, as a team the Lady Lions rank 24th in assists per set (13.0), with sophomore Gabby Blossom coming in 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten with 11.46 assists/set.
- Sophomore middle Kaitlyn Hord is among the nation's leaders on the attack checking in fifth nationally in hitting percentage and second in the Big Ten at .429. Classmate Serena Gray is also among the league leaders on offense swinging at .369.
- Hord also leads the Lady Lions on defense with the third best average in the Big Ten at 1.34 blocks/set, while senior libero Kendall White is fourth in the conference at 4.24 digs/set.
| ABOUT THE BIG TEN |
- As a team, Rutgers is sixth in the Big Ten in blocks (2.42) and is one of six teams in the league to have at least two players ranked among the top 15. Merle Weidt is currently 11th in the conference (1.10), while Rutgers all-time block assist leader Jasmine Stackhouse is 15th in the category (1.05).
- Inna Balyko, meanwhile, is ninth in the Big Ten in assists (8.47).
- In Big Ten only matches, Rutgers has been averaging 1.09 service aces/set, with Tali Marmen tied for eighth averaging 0.35 aces/set in league matches..
| IN THE RECORD BOOKS |
- Against Northwestern on Oct. 27, senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse took over sole possession of the Rutgers all-time block assist record and currently has 348 to top the list.
- Stackhouse is also fourth on the all-time total blocks list with 371 and needs six more to surpass Mary Kiriakou (1998-01) for third on the list.
- Sophomore setter Inna Balyko moved into seventh all-time in assists with against No. 8 Nebraska on Nov. 1. With 1,878 assists in her two years "On The Banks", Balyko needs 390 to move past Danaan Luc (1984-87) into sixth place.
- Balyko's 815 assists in 2019 places her sixth on the single season charts. As a freshman in 2018, she captured 1,063 assists to put her name third on the list.
- Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg's 15 digs vs. the Wildcats on Oct. 27 moved her up into third on the all-time digs list. She has 1,268 digs in her four years at Rutgers and needs 77 more to move into second all-time past Shayla Bush (2000-03).
| TRENDING |
- The Scarlet Knights are 6-0 when hitting over .250 and against Iowa on Nov. 2 had its second best attack percentage in a Big Ten matchup swinging for .282.
- RU is 7-4 this season when winning the third set. Most recently, RU led from start to finish in the third set at Ohio State on Oct. 23 and clinched a victory over Iowa on Nov. 2 with a 25-19 third set win.
- Tali Marmen has led or tied for the team-lead in services aces 12 times this season.
- Anastasiia Maksimova has led RU in kills in six of the last eight matchups dating back to RU's first meeting with Northwestern. Over that span, she has averaged 2.48 kills/set.
- Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team blocks in 13 of its 28 matches, including seven of the last 14 Big Ten 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 6-1 this season when winning the first set and 6-0 when leading in attack percentage.
| UP NEXT |
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- RU -
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's VolleyballWednesday, March 25
Friday, November 28
Thursday, November 27
Monday, November 24
