EVANSTON, Ill. – Fifth-year senior Beka Kojadinovic etched her name into Rutgers volleyball history as the Scarlet Knights' rally-era leader in aces behind four at the service line against Northwestern on Friday night at Welsh Ryan Arena. The record-breaking mark, however, came as the Scarlet Knights battled the Wildcats down to the wire in two of three sets falling 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-23).

The loss drops Rutgers to 8-6 on the year and 0-3 in Big Ten play, while Northwestern improved to 6-8 overall and earned its first Big Ten win of the season.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Redshirt senior Shealyn McNamara and graduate student Megan Vernon led the attack with six kills each. Vernon collected points on six of her eight swings to finish the night hitting .625.
• McNamara also led the defense with eight of the Scarlet Knights' 17 total blocks, including a career-high three solo rejections.
• Senior Inna Balyko collected 20 digs and added four blocks.
• Sophomore Madyson Chitty registered a team-high nine digs.

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KEY MOMENTS

• ​Set 1 (19-25) | The first of Megan Vernon's team-leading three kills in the opening frame helped the Scarlet Knights take an 11-9 lead. The Wildcats, however, responded with an 8-3 run, including five unanswered, to push ahead. Anastasiia Makismova posted back-to-back points off a swing and an ace to pull RU within one at 19-18, but Northwestern ended the set outscoring the Scarlet Knights 6-1 for the 1-0 lead.
• Set 2 (23-25) | Rutgers fought back from a six-point deficit to knot the score at 23-23. The Wildcats rattled off five straight points for a 21-16 edge, but the Scarlet Knights responded with four-straight and outscored the Wildcats 7-2 for the late tie. Beka Kojadinovic served up two consecutive aces to tie for the lead as RU's all-time rally leader for the tie. The fifth-year senior fell just short of taking the number one spot on her next service and Northwestern's Temi Thomas-Ailara posted her 12th kill of the night for set point.
• Set 3 (23-25) | The final set was tied for a fifth time at 11-11 when RU collected four straight, including Kojadinovic's record-setting ace to go in front. The Scarlet Knights won the race to 20 off a Wildcat service error when the home team took the next four points to reclaim the lead. Rutgers claimed three of the next points, including both a kill and solo rejection from the hands of McNamara, to tie the set up for the eighth and final time at 23-23. However, it was back-to-back Wildcat kills to end the night.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Beka Kojadinovic's four service aces pushed her past Ronnie Komisarek (2012-15) for the top spot on the rally-era leaders' list with 95 career aces. She needs 23 more to crack the all-time top ten.
• Shealyn McNamara posted five or more blocks in a contest for the sixth time this season.
• McNamara had captured a solo block on four occasions during her career, most recently in the 3-1 victory over ETSU on Sept. 17, before setting a new benchmark against the Wildcats with her three solo stops.

HIGHLIGHTS

 

UP NEXT

• Rutgers continues its road trip meeting No. 4 Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.

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