GREELEY, Colo. (Aug. 31, 2019) – Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg of Rutgers volleyball surpassed a major career milestone in her home state of Colorado, becoming just the eighth Scarlet Knight in history to reach 1,000 digs.
 
The senior scooped a career-high 27 digs in Saturday's five-set loss to Grand Canyon to conclude the Northern Colorado Classic in the Centennial State. Her 1,013 digs now ranks seventh all-time in the Rutgers record books.

With a career-high 27 digs today against Grand Canyon, senior libero Karysa Swackenberg surpassed the 1,000-dig milestone!#RUVB | #GoRU pic.twitter.com/MhsuF1u3e0

— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) August 31, 2019

 

THE LINE

Grand Canyon	25	16	23	25	15	3
Rutgers	19	25	25	16	9	2

 

STANDOUT STATS

• Sophomore outside hitter Anastasiya Kudryashova led the Scarlet Knights' attack for the third straight match to the start the season, matching the career high she set on Friday with another 16 kills. The Russian native added two aces, three blocks and seven digs.
• Sophomore setter Inna Balyko passed out 45 assists in the five-setter, orchestrating a .324 attack percentage in the second set. The 6-foot setter also led the Scarlet Knights in blocks with six total, and notched her first double-double of the season with 13 digs.
• Junior opposite hitter Kamila Cieslik and senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse each chipped in 11 kills, with Stackhouse hitting .320 on the day with four blocking assists, and Cieslik grabbing the double-double with her 13 digs.
• Rutgers had more kills (57-50), aces (7-4) and digs (71-67) than the Lopes.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Cieslik recorded her fifth career double-double, while Balyko got her ninth.
• Swackenberg banked her fourth career 20-plus dig match.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 2 | Rutgers used an early 5-0 run and a 7-1 spurt in the middle of the set to tie things up at 1-1. Kudryashova took over in the early 5-0 run with three powerful kills and a block assist.
• Set 3 | Trailing 18-14, Rutgers strung together five straight points for the one-point lead with Balyko getting in on two blocks. The scoring run stretched to 9-1 in favor of Rutgers and a 23-19 lead before sophomore middle Merle Weidt put the set away with a pair of kills to give RU the 2-1 advantage.
• Set 4 | GCU's 6-0 run gave the Lopes a 14-6 edge that Rutgers could not overcome despite a 4-0 stint powered by a back-row assist and a service ace by Kudryashova.
• Set 5 | The Lopes scored the first three points in the race to 15, but Rutgers responded with 7-1 run on the back of Kudryashova's two kills and Balyko's back-to-back aces for the 7-4 lead. Grand Canyon had a rally of its own an immediate answer of seven straight points. Down 11-7, the Scarlet Knights managed two straight points before the Lopes closed out the match with the final five points.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights head home to host the Rutgers Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7 against Towson, Princeton and Virginia.
 
 
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