Volleyball To Host Illinois Friday on BTN and Maryland on Sunday

Friday, October 29

Piscataway, N.J.

6:30 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

Illinois

Photo by: Rich Graessle

Volleyball To Host Illinois Friday on BTN and Maryland on Sunday

Oct 27 | Women's Volleyball

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers volleyball team is back home to begin a four-game homestand starting with a BTN contest against Illinois on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. along with a rematch with Maryland on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Both games will be played at the RAC and admission is free.

GAME DAY INFO

Venue:	The RAC \| Piscataway, N.J.
Admission:	Free
Parking:	Register Vehicle
Game Notes:	Rutgers \| I llinois \| Maryland
Statistics:	Rutgers \| I llinois \| Maryland \| Big Ten
TV/Video:	Friday - vs. Illinois - BTN/Fox Sports App (Conor Onion & Emily Ehman) Sunday - vs. Maryland - Big Ten Plus (Pat Boyle)
Live Stats:	vs. Illinois \| vs. Maryland
Social Media:	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

FAN INFORMATION

Admission to all Rutgers volleyball games is free.
Face coverings are required as the University continues to uphold health and safety practices in accordance with campus, local and state guidelines for indoor venues.
All fans must register for parking - Click here to register your vehicle.
Fans can enter with bags that are clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC and approximately 12″ x 6″ x 12″, or one-gallon clear plastic bags or similar, and small clutch bags, approximately the size of a hand, can be taken into athletic venues. Exceptions will be made for medically necessary items after proper inspection.
Friday against the Fighting Illini, visit the marketing table to be entered to win a 1-hour personal training session from Rutgers Recreation or a pair of Apple AirPods.
Visit the marketing table on Sunday against the Terps and enter to win a Rutgers swag bag including four (4) tickets to the Rutgers-Maryland football game on Nov. 27.

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Rutgers wrapped up a four-game road trip last Sunday taking Indiana to five sets in a 3-2 loss. Fifth-year senior Beka Kojadinovic logged 15 kills and 15 digs, classmate Kamila Cieslik added 11 kills and 16 digs and redshirt senior Shealyn McNamara recorded 13 kills swinging .435.
The Scarlet Knights opened the Big Ten slate with a tough schedule meeting four Top 25 programs in their first six games and will face an Illinois squad that is the top team receiving votes in this week AVCA Top 25 Poll.
On the season, Kojadinovic continues to lead the attack at 2.89 kills per set while adding 2.54 digs and 0.58 blocks per set for the defense. She is the rally-era leader in aces with 99 in her career "On The Banks" and needs 18 more to crack Rutgers' all-time top 10 list. She currently has a team-leading 23 in the 2021 season. Last season she served up 10 aces against Michigan State setting a Rutgers record and tying for the second-most in a game in Big Ten history.
Also among the top Scarlet Knights on the offense are Kamila Cieslik, who logged both her double-doubles this season against Indiana and is averaging a team second-best 2.09 kills per set and senior Anastasiia Maksimova at 1.98 kills per stanza.
Redshirt senior Shealyn McNamara is 10^th among the league's blockers with 87 total rejections this season and 1.21 blocks per set. In her two seasons "On The Banks", she has placed her name second among career rally-era stats at 1.03 blocks per set.
Kojadinovic also appears on the top 10 rally-era career blocks list and is currently ranks eighth in the category with 194 career rejections.
Sophomore Madyson Chitty, meanwhile, is collecting 3.63 digs per set for the defense and in 22 games over two seasons has placed her name fourth in the rally era in career digs per set at 3.31.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS

Illinois is the top team receiving votes in this week's AVCA Poll and comes to the RAC with a 14-7 overall record and 6-4 Big Ten mark. The Fighting Illini defeated both Northwestern and Michigan last week, 3-1, after being swept at No. 9 Nebraska on Oct. 16. Among Illinois' victories this season was a five-set upset of No. 4 Purdue on the road.
Offensively, the Fighting Illini are led by Raina Terry at 3.16 kills per set and is one of three members of the squad among the top ten in aces with a team-leading 35. She ranks fourth in the league in aces.
Illinois also looks to Megan Cooney on the attack with a team second-best 2.96 kills per set.
Directing the attack for Illinois is Diana Brown at 9.85 assists per set and checks in eighth in the category among Big Ten setters.
On defense, Taylor Kuper is sixth in the conference at 4.27 digs per set and Kennedy Collins leads the wall at the net with 91 total blocks averaging 1.11 per set.

SCOUTING MARYLAND

The Terps come to the RAC to close out the season series entering the week at 17-5 overall and 5-5 in Big Ten play. Maryland will play at Penn State on Friday night before making their way to New Jersey.
Maryland has won three straight entering the weekend including a 3-0 win over Rutgers in College Park last Wednesday.
Maryland leads the nation in blocks averaging 3.18 rejections per set as a team. At the net, Rainelle Jones is the nation's leader in rejections at 1.81 stops per set and leading all Division I athletes with 132 total blocks.
Jones is also the third-leading attacker for the Terps at 2.04 kills per set with Sam Csire adding 3.51 kills and Paula Neciporuka adding 2.92 kills per frame. Sydney Sowler sets up the offense at 10.19 assists per set, ranking sixth in the league in the category, while also leading the Terps with 27 aces.
Milan Gomillion, meanwhile, leads the Big Ten in digs averaging 4.71 per set.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights return to the College Ave. Gym in New Brunswick to host Michigan State on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. and Purdue on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.
Admission to all Rutgers volleyball games is free.
All fans must register for parking - Click here to register your vehicle.
Fans can enter with bags that are clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC and approximately 12″ x 6″ x 12″, or one-gallon clear plastic bags or similar, and small clutch bags, approximately the size of a hand, can be taken into athletic venues. Exceptions will be made for medically necessary items after proper inspection.

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

- RU -