Volleyball Opens Season At Northwestern

Friday, January 22

Evanston, Ill.

7:00 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

Northwestern

Volleyball Seniors Yana Kamshilina Beka Kojadinovic Kamila Cieslik Mary Kate Painter

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

Jan 20 | Women's Volleyball

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers women's volleyball team opens the 22-game 2021 spring season with a pair of matches at Northwestern on Friday and Saturday. Both games are slated for first serve at 6 p.m. (CT)/7 p.m. (ET) at Welsh Ryan Arena.

GAME DAY INFO

Venue:	Welsh Ryan Arena \| Evanston, Illinois
Game Notes:	Rutgers \| Northwestern
Statistics:	Rutgers \| Northwestern \| Big Ten
Video:	Friday - BTN Plus \| Saturday - BTN Plus
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Social Media:	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

WELCOME TO THE SPRING SEASON

The Rutgers women's volleyball team embarks on a 22-game spring season with 11 games at home and 11 games on the road.
The Big Ten only schedule features six teams ranked among the top 25 in the AVCA Poll.

A LOOK AT THE SIDELINE

Friday night will mark the debut of first-year head coach Caitlin Schweihofer who took over the program after serving as head coach at Northeastern and a five-year stint at La Salle, where she earned 2018 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors.
Rutgers returns five Scarlet Knights from the 2019 season along with seven newcomers. Four freshman and three transfers comprise the newest Scarlet Knights.
The 2019 Scarlet Knights collected the most wins in conference play since joining the Big Ten in 2014 and earned its first Big Ten road sweep.

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Senior right side hitter Beka Kojadinovic swung for 2.00 kills/set and registered a career-high 16 digs along with 12 kills in a victory over Northwestern.
Junior outside hitter Anastasiia Maksimova, meanwhile, averaged. 2.04 kills/set a year ago. She had double-figure kills with 11 in the win over Northwestern and 10 in the straight-set road win at Iowa. She also tied career-high with 13 digs in the five-set victory over Wildcats and sweep over the Hawkeyes.
Junior setter Inna Balyko also returns having collected 1,948 career assists over her two-year career to rank seventh all-time at Rutgers. Balyko was seventh in the league averaging 8.44 assists/set. She also averaged 2.45 digs/set and led Rutgers with 11 double-doubles.
Senior right side Kamila Cieslik has been named to three All-Tournament Teams during her career was and selected as MVP of the East Carolina Invitational as a freshman. Last season, she totaled 94 kills, 11 assists, 70 digs and 18 blocks and two double-doubles.
Senior outside hitter Yana Kamshilina has appeared in 134 sets in her three seasons and as a freshman was named to the East Carolina Invitational All-Tournament Team.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN

Northwestern went 14-18 overall and 5-15 in the Big Ten last year, which included splitting matches with the Scarlet Knights.
Senior outside hitter Nia Robinson is back after averaging 3.27 kills/set to rank among the top ten in the league along with senior middle Alana Walker, who averaged 2.01 kills/set and hit .240. Walker also added a team-leading 109 blocks making 0.92 stops at the net per set.
Middle blocker Desiree Becker also returns after a rookie season that saw her hit .268 and register 1.43 kills/set.
Defensively, the Wildcats welcome back sophomore libero Charlotte Cronister who was third in digs on the squad at 2.12 per set.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

Junior setter Inna Balyko needs 52 more assists to become the seventh Scarlet Knight to accumulate 2,000 career assists.
Additionally, the junior setter needs 320 more assists to move into sixth on the Rutgers all-time list.
In last year's 3-2 win over Northwestern on Oct. 27, the Scarlet Knights set the record for most kills (62) and assists (68) in Big Ten play. Inna Balyko's 52 assists were also the most in a Big Ten matchup.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights host Indiana in their 2021 home opener on Friday, Jan. 29 and Saturday, Jan. 30. Both games begin at 2 p.m. Note: Due to current restrictions on indoor gatherings, all Rutgers volleyball home games will not be open to the public.

Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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