NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Sept. 7, 2019) – Rutgers volleyball (3-3) claimed the Rutgers Invitational Tournament on Saturday afternoon after completing the 3-0 weekend with a four-set victory over Virginia (3-3) inside the College Ave. Gym.
 
Sophomore Anastasiia Maksimova was named the Most Valuable Player of the invitational, and sophomore outside hitter Tali Marmen was named to the All-Tournament Team for their performances during the 3-0 weekend.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Rutgers combined for 13 service aces, one shy of a school record for a four-set match set last season.
• Maksimova led all attackers on Saturday with a career-high 17 kills.
• Marmen totaled 44 kills during the championship weekend, adding 13 against UVA on a .290 attack clip. Marmen added 11 digs for her first double-double of the season, along with five blocks. She also served a career-high five aces.
• Junior opposite hitter Kamila Cieslik added a double-double of her own with 12 kills and 10 digs.
• Sophomore setter Inna Balyko ran another efficient attacking effort at .255, with 43 assists while converting four of her five attacks for kills.
• Senior libero Karysa Swackenberg has led the team in digs every match in 2019, posting 12 on Saturday.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 | Marmen contributed to a block, and shortly after added a pair of clutch kills to tie the game at 21-21, erasing an early four-point Cavalier lead. Tied again at 24-24, Virginia closed the set with the final two points.
• Set 2 | Rutgers evened the match with a resounding win in the second set, powered by Maksimova's four kills and four digs. The Scarlet Knights used a 5-0 run in the middle of the set, and three separate 4-0 spurts for a convincing victory that saw RU hit .310 compared to UVA's -.037.
• Set 3 | Marmen had three of her five aces during a 6-0 scoring run that set the tone in a dominating 25-16 win.
• Set 4 | Clinging to a one-point lead midway through, Cieslik took over with a service ace and a kill en route to a 7-2 run and a 21-16 lead. The junior opposite hitter added two more kills down the stretch to seal the match and the tournament title.

QUOTABLE

"Going into the week, we wanted to focus on blocking and turning it into points," head coach CJ Werneke said. "The training this week really helped. We turned into more efficient attackers, and we cut down the errors. When we block and hit at that level, we're going to win a lot of matches. Our opponents made us beat them, and we had to step up and make plays. We were good enough to win, and we had to be to get back to a .500 record this weekend."

The coaches at the Rutgers Invitational voted Anastasiia Maksimova as the tournament's MVP.

Hear what the sophomore had to say after leading #RUVB to the tourney title with 3.5 kills/set, 26 digs, and seven blocks. pic.twitter.com/S2fcve8DDg

— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) September 8, 2019

 

KNIGHT NOTES

• Balyko's 43 assists give her 1,310 in her young career. That's good for ninth place all-time, surpassing Megan Sharkey (2016-17).
• Rutgers won its first Rutgers Invitational since 2012. The tournament has been held in New Brunswick each year since then, except 2013 and 2017.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights head to Hamilton, N.Y. for the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament at Colgate on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14 against Quinnipiac, New Hampshire and the host Raiders.
 
 
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