No. 19 Ohio State Defeats Volleyball in First Game of Weekend Series

Friday, February 26

New Brunswick, N.J.

5:00 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

2-9,2-9Big Ten

Ohio State

10-0,10-0Big Ten

Ohio St.

Rutgers

Photo by: Mike Lawrence

No. 19 Ohio State Defeats Volleyball in First Game of Weekend Series

Feb 26 | Women's Volleyball

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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Rutgers volleyball was back to another top 25 battle on Friday night at the College Ave Gym taking on undefeated No. 19 Ohio State. The Buckeyes won their 10^thstraight defeating the Scarlet Knights in three (25-21, 25-19, 25-19).

STANDOUT STATS

Senior Beka Kojadinovic and junior Anastasiia Maksimova each collected nine kills. Maksimova was just shy of a double-double with nine digs.
Maksimova was also one of three Scarlet Knights with a team-leading nine digs joining freshman Madyson Chitty and senior Kamila Cieslik.
Inna Balyko moved closed to sixth place on the all-time assist leaders list with 29.
Redshirt junior Shealyn McNamara led RU at the net with three total blocks.

KEY MOMENTS

Set 1 (21-25) | In the closest set of the evening, the two teams fought back and forth for the lead six times. A Kojadinovic swing saw Rutgers trail by one, 16-15, when the Buckeyes put together four-straight points for their largest lead of the set. Balyko and McNamara teamed up at the net to close the gap at 23-21, however, Ohio State used back-to-back kills to take the lead. Grkovic registered four kills on six swings ending the frame hitting .667.
Set 2 (19-25) | The Buckeyes swung .536 to take the 2-0 edge. The set was tied the 13^th time at 17-17 when Ohio State rattled off four-unanswered to take control of the lead. A kill from McNamara and ace from Chitty brought RU as close as 21-19 down the stretch.
Set 3 (19-25) | A 9-1 burst from the Buckeyes, including a 7-0 run, gave Ohio State a 21-11 advantage. The Scarlet Knights battled back with a run of their own outscoring the visitors, 7-2, to trail 23-18. Kojadinovic and McNamara contributed four kills apiece in the stanza.

KNIGHT NOTES

The Buckeyes mark the third ranked program the Scarlet Knights have faced this season.
With her 29 assists, Balyko is eight assists away from moved into sixth place on the all-time assists leaders list past Danaan Luca (1984-87). The junior Scarlet Knight is also 12 helpers away from moving into fifth all-time surpassing Abbey Martin (2003-04).

HIGHLIGHTS