Saturday, September 28
University Park, PA
7:00 PM
Rutgers University
at
No. 5 Penn State
Photo by: AP
Volleyball Visits No. 5 Penn State
Sep 27 | Women's Volleyball
Scarlet Knights set for their first of three consecutive nationally ranked opponents
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Sept. 27, 2019) - Rutgers volleyball plays its first Big Ten road match, and its first contest against a nationally ranked opponent at No. 5 Penn State on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Nittany Lions' Rec Hall.
The road test will be the first of three consecutive matches against teams in the Top 10 of the latest AVCA Coaches Poll with a home date against No. 2 Nebraska on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and a trip to No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Penn State (8-2, 1-0) started its season with five straight wins before a four-set loss to No. 1 Stanford in the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge. The Nittany Lions split a home-and-home series with then-No. 6 Pittsburgh before taking their Big Ten opener in straight sets over Michigan State. PSU is led by returning All-American Jonni Parker and her 3.61 kills per set, one of four Nittany Lions with 2.5 or more kills per set this season. Penn State's .282 hitting percentage ranks 10th in the nation, directed by setter Gabby Blossom's 11.09 assists per set, which ranks 16th in the NCAA.
• 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 1,107 digs.
• Senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse raised her career total to 336 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.
• Freshman setter Caitlin Kikta made her collegiate debut with eight assists, four digs and a kill against Michigan on Wednesday in head coach CJ Werneke's first deployment of the 6-2 lineup this season.
• Rutgers has six or more service aces in eight of 12 matches this season.
• 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 12 matches.
• Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team service aces in nine of 12 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).
• The Scarlet Knights are 5-0 when hitting over .250.
The Scarlet Knights continue Big Ten play at home against No. 2 Nebraska on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. inside the College Ave. Gym.
The road test will be the first of three consecutive matches against teams in the Top 10 of the latest AVCA Coaches Poll with a home date against No. 2 Nebraska on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and a trip to No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 5.
| THE SCOUT |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD |
| KNIGHT NOTES |
• 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 1,107 digs.
• Senior middle Jasmine Stackhouse raised her career total to 336 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.
• Freshman setter Caitlin Kikta made her collegiate debut with eight assists, four digs and a kill against Michigan on Wednesday in head coach CJ Werneke's first deployment of the 6-2 lineup this season.
| 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 12 matches.
• Rutgers had led or tied for the lead in team service aces in nine of 12 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).
• The Scarlet Knights are 5-0 when hitting over .250.
| UP NEXT |
Players Mentioned
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