CORALVILLE, Iowa –  Saturday's contest between Rutgers volleyball and Iowa came down to the fifth and deciding set with the Scarlet Knights heading back to New Jersey victorious, 3-2 (13-25, 25-17, 26-24, 20-25, 15-12).
 
For Rutgers, it was the squad's second victory of the season tying for the most Big Ten wins in a season 10 games into the 2021 spring campaign.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• After hitting just .120 in the opening set, Rutgers finished out the game at a .331 clip with four Scarlet Knights in double-figure kills.
• The offense was led by junior Anastasiia Maksimova tying her career-high with 17 kills Meanwhile, freshman Tina Grkovic reset her season-high with 12, leading RU swinging .500, and redshirt junior Shea McNamara collected a career-high 11 kills hitting .474. Senior Beka Kojadinovic added 10.
• Junior Inna Balyko helped out on 54 points, the most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten matchup.
• On defense, McNamara added seven blocks while freshman Madyson Chitty came away with 11 digs and senior Kamila Cieslik contributing 10.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (13-25) | Rutgers was unable to overcome the hot-hitting Hawkeyes. Iowa captured a .524 hitting percentage and four aces to go up 1-0.  
• Set 2 (25-17) | The Scarlet Knight bounced back to tie the match at 1-1. After hitting just .120 to in set one, Rutgers hit .448 and committed no errors on the attack. RU raced out to a 14-4 advantage and never looked back.
• Set 3 (26-24) |In all, the third frame endured 14 ties and eight lead changes. After the seventh tie, an ace from the left hand of Kojadinovic gave RU a 9-8 edge. Outscored 5-2 by the Hawkeyes for the hosts to take 14-10 lead and following the RU timeout, a trio kills from Maksimova and a pair of swings from McNamara put the Scarlet Knights back in front at 17-16. Iowa fought back for a 22-19 edge when Rutgers closed the set on a 7-2 run.
• Set 4 (20-25) | Iowa used an 8-2 run to go out in front 10-5. Rutgers chipped away at the deficit and trailed by two as kills from Grkovic and McNamara saw the Scarlet Knights down 18-16. The Hawkeyes, however, would not relinquish the lead.
• Set 5 (15-12) | It was all Rutgers in the fifth and deciding set as the Scarlet Knights led from start to finish. Iowa was limited to a .074 hitting percentage. The Hawkeyes pulled with one at 13-12, but Maksimova had a hand in securing the victory with a swing and teaming with McNamara at the net for match point.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers .331 hitting percentage is the best by the Scarlet Knights in Big Ten play since joning the league in 2014. The mark surpasses the previous high of .314 in a 3-1 loss to Indiana back on Jan. 30 at home.
• Maksimova tied her career-high with 17 kills. She also had 17 kills against Virginia at last year's Rutgers Invitational.
• Grkovic's 12 kills were a season-high after tying her best with 11 in Friday's opening match with Iowa. The freshman also had 11 kills last weekend contest with No. 4 Nebraska and has made it three-straight games in double-figure kills.
• McNamara was in double-figure kills for the first time in her career. She surpassed her previous high of seven in the four-set loss to Indiana with 11 against the Hawkeyes.
• Balyko's 54 assists were the most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten contest. She replaces her own record of 52 recorded in last year's five-set win over Northwestern. The junior setter currently has 2,231 career assists and needs 37 more to move into sixth place on the all-time list.
• Rutgers earned its second victory over the Hawkeyes. Both wins have occurred on the road.

HIGHLIGHTS

 

QUOTES

Caitlin Schweihofer, head coach

Overall thought on Saturday's game:
"Playing Big Ten games are hard and playing Big Ten games on the road are even tougher. With everything going on in the world right now, we're just grateful for the opportunity to continue to play matches. We came up pretty flat last night and unfortunately it carried through to the first set, even though we tried to change it.  The fact that we were able to change a few things mentally allowed us to refocus ourselves, reset ourselves and continue on the path towards success for the whole match tonight."
 
On the fifth and deciding set:
"In Thursday's practice we spent the entire practice practicing the fifth set. We did it over and over and over again. We have a little game that kind of describes how you can win the fifth set and the amount of errors that you can expend versus the amount of kills you have to get. We actually won the game that we were practicing on Thursday in practice tonight. I preach about playing the first point of the first set, the same as the last point in the set. We have to stay consistent and whoever controls emotions and manages their skills the best will win the fifth set."

Shealyn McNamara, redshirt junior, middle blocker

On Saturday's game:
"It feels really good just because we've been working so hard in the gym. Even though we are rebuilding and we know it's going to be tough to have the victories, we showed we could have them. It definitely makes it easier to get back in the gym and work hard the next week. Also from a team perspective, to  fight through something like, to lose last night, have to come out play (Iowa) again, come out and not have a good first set, to really turn it around, was super impressive for us. Definitely a big step in the right direction."

On the fifth and deciding set:
 "First fifth set of the year, but to come this far we worked so hard. It was non-negotiable that we're going out there, focus on what we have to do and just go out there and win."
 

UP NEXT

 

• The Rutgers volleyball team is back home for a pair of matches with Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights meet the Buckeyes on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27. Both game start at 5 p.m. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, there will be no admission to home games.

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