Volleyball Splits Series with Indiana

Saturday, January 30

New Brunswick, N.J.

2:00 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

1-3,1-3Big Ten

Indiana

1-3,1-3Big Ten

Indiana

Rutgers

Jan 30 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers volleyball team fell short of the series sweep with a 3-1 loss to Indiana Saturday afternoon at the College Ave. Gym.

Rutgers powered back from a 2-0 deficit dropping the first two sets 25-19 and 25-15 before holding a Big Ten opponent to single-digit points in a set for the first time ever with 25-9 third set victory. The Scarlet Knights led for most of the fourth set, but the Hoosiers fought back to claim the match with a close 25-23 set win.

The loss dropped Rutgers to 1-3 on the year, while Indiana earned its first win to improve to 1-3.

STANDOUT STATS

Rutgers hit .314 marking its best hitting percentage in a Big Ten Contest
Two Scarlet Knights logged double-doubles with senior Beka Kojadinovic's team-leading 15 kills and 12 digs and junior Inna Balyko's 43 assists and 11 digs.
Senior Anastasiia Maksimova was also in double-figure kills with 10 while freshman Tina Grkovic had nine kills while hitting .562.
Grkovic also racked up a pair of solo blocks and four block assists.

KEY MOMENTS

Set 1 (19-25) | Maksimova led the way for Rutgers with four kills and a hitting at a.429 clip. The Scarlet Knights overcame an eight-point deficit with a 6-0 run capped by a Balyko ace to trail 15-13. A Kojadinovic swing brought RU within two at 18-16 but the Hoosiers stayed in front.
Set 2 (15-25) | Kojadinovic brought the Scarlet Knights within one at 10-9, but a 7-2 run by the Hoosiers to follow kept the visitors ahead.
Set 3 (25-9) | Rutgers captured a .609 hitting percentage in the set and never trailed. The set was tied on four occasions, but Rutgers went on a tear with 10 unanswered to lead 16-5 and keep the Hoosiers to single digits.
Set 4 (23-25) | The Scarlet Knights continued momentum into the next jumping out to a 6-1 advantage and led by as many as seven at 14-7. A 6-0 surge from the visitors narrowed the gap to within one with RU leading, 15-14. The Scarlet Knights pushed ahead with a 21-17 advantage, but Indiana came back to win it ending the game on an 8-2 run.

KNIGHT NOTES

Rutgers' .314 hitting percentage is the best in Big Ten play topping the previous high of .284 set against Iowa back on Oct. 10, 2018 at the College Ave. Gym.
Balyko notched her second-straight double-double and has 21 in her career.
Balyko's 43 helpers are tied for the fifth most by an RU student-athlete in a Big Ten contest. Balyko holds four of the top six top assist performances in a match.
Kojadinovic, meanwhile, captured her first double-double of the 2021 spring season and eighth of her career.
Kojadinovic's .520 attack percentage is the third best and 15 kills are the sixth most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten match since joining the league in 2014.
The nine points scored by Indiana in Rutgers' 25-9 third set victory are the fewest by a Rutgers opponent in a Big Ten matchup since joining the league in 2014.
The Scarlet Knights' 46 assists are the fourth most in a four-set Big Ten contest.

HIGHLIGHTS

POSTGAME QUOTES

UP NEXT

Rutgers travels to No. 1 Wisconsin to meet the Badgers on Friday, February 5th at 6 p.m. (CT)/ 7 p.m. (ET) and Saturday, February 6th at 4 p.m. (CT)(/5 p.m. (ET).

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