Volleyball Hosts Michigan in Big Ten Opener

Wednesday, September 25

New Brunswick, NJ

7:00 PM

Rutgers University

Michigan

Sep 24 | Women's Volleyball

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Scarlet Knights enter sixth season in the nation's premier volleyball conference

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Sept. 24, 2019) - Rutgers volleyball opens its Big Ten schedule at home against Michigan on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. inside the College Ave. Gymnasium.

The first 50 fans inside The Barn will receive a free 2019 Rutgers Volleyball t-shirt.

THE SCOUT

Michigan went 7-3 during its non-conference portion of the 2019 season, and is currently receiving 37 votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll to rank 30th in the nation. The Wolverine offense is predicated on balance, and that has been on display all season. Five players finished with a kills-per-set mark over 1.50, with Paige Jones leading the way at 3.14. Sydney Wetterstrom adds 2.68 kills-per-set, while May Pertofsky (2.24), Jess Robinson (2.19), and Cori Crocker (1.59) give Michigan strong scoring options. Senior setter MacKenzi Welsh surpassed the 4,000-assist mark for her career early this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

KNIGHT NOTES

• Between Sept. 6 and Sept. 14, Rutgers volleyball won two tournaments in a row, six straight matches and 12 consecutive sets for its longest winning streak since 2012, when the program won 12 straight matches for a 14-1 start to the season.

• The Scarlet Knights are once again nationally ranked in blocking - coming in at 14th place this week with 2.78 per set. RU set a program record for blocks in a season in 2018 with 300 total and 2.63 per set. Rutgers ended the season ranked 27th in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten in blocking last fall.

• Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg was named the Big Ten Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for her performance during the period ending Sept. 8. The honor is the first of its kind for Rutgers since joining the conference in 2014.

• After setting eight school records in 2018, the Scarlet Knights already have two new program marks in the books for 2019. The team set a record for blocks in a four-set match with 18 against Towson on Sept. 6, while sophomore middle Merle Weidt totaled 12 blocks - an individual record for blocks in a four-setter.

• Swackenberg scooped a career-high 27 digs in the five-set match against Grand Canyon last Saturday as she surpassed 1,000 career digs as a Scarlet Knight. She becomes just the eighth player in program history to reach 1,000 digs, and now ranks seventh all-time with 1,104 digs.

• Senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse raised her career total to 332 blocks, which ranks seventh in the all-time record book at Rutgers. Stackhouse was named to the Ellis Rowland Memorial All-Tournament Team at Colgate with 16 blocks in nine sets to go with 21 kills.

• Sophomore setter Inna Balyko was also named to the All-Tournament Team at Colgate with 86 assists, 30 digs and eight kills in three sets, while directing an offense that hit .294 over the weekend without dropping a set. She already ranks ninth all-time in Rutgers history with 1,451 career assists.

TRENDING

• RU is 6-2 this season when winning the third set.
• Tali Marmen has led or tied for the team-lead in services aces five times this season.
• Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team blocks in seven of 11 matches.
• Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team service aces in eight of 11 matches.
• Seven Scarlet Knights have 1.5 or more kills per set, while five different RU players have led a match in kills this season.
• Rutgers is undefeated this season when winning the first set (4-0) and when leading in attack percentage (5-0).

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights continue Big Ten play with its first road test and first match against a ranked opponent at No. 5 Penn State on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. in University Park, Pa.