Volleyball To Meet Top-Ranked Badgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers volleyball team is back on the road to meet No. 1 Wisconsin on Friday at 6 p.m (CT)/7 p.m. (ET) and Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT)/ 5 p.m. (ET) at UW Field House.

GAME DAY INFO

Venue:	UW Field House \| Madison, Wisc.
Game Notes:	Rutgers \| Wisconsin
Statistics:	Rutgers \| Wisconsin \| Big Ten
Video:	Friday - BTN Plus \| Saturday - BTN Plus
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Social Media:	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Senior Beka Kojadinovic leads the Scarlet Knight attack at 2.86 k/s followed by classmate Kamila Cieslik at 2.36 k/s and junior Anastasiia Maksimova at 2.29 k/s.
Junior Inna Balyko, this week's Big Ten Setter of the Week, has totaled 111 assists on the year average 7.93 per set and also leads RU with seven aces. She ranks eighth in the league in both categories.
At the net, freshman Tina Grkovic is averaging 1.14 b/s followed by redshirt junior Shea McNamara with 0.86 b/s. Grkovic is tenth in the conference in blocks.
Freshman libero Madyson Chitty is contributing 2.64 d/s for the defense.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN

The Badgers are the topped ranked team in the nation and enter the series at 4-0 with wins over Purdue and Illinois. Wisconsin has only given up one set coming last Saturday in the third set against the Fighting Illini.
Wisconsin returns 2019 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year middle blocker Dana Rettke. Rettke leads the Badgers with 3.77 k/s and a .473 attack percentage along with 1.46 b/s.
Following Rettke on the stat sheet is freshman middle blocker/right side Devyn Robinson with 2.38 k/s and 0.85 b/s.
Senior Sydney Hilley, who was also an All-Big Ten Preseason honoree, is leading the conference with 11.54 a/s.
Senior libero Lauren Barnes, meanwhile, is posting 3.85 d/s.

B1G SETTER OF THE WEEK

Junior Inna Balyko was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week, it was announced on Monday by the conference office.
Balyko averaged 9.75 assists and surpassed the 2,000 career assist mark . She had a pair of double-doubles against the Hoosiers and totaled 78 assists, six aces, eight blocks and 26 digs.
In a 3-1 series-opening victory over the Hoosiers on Friday afternoon, Balyko became the seventh Scarlet Knight in school history to reach the 2,000 career assist mark. Along with 15 digs and four block assists, she also served up four aces, which tied for the sixth-most by a Scarlet Knight in a four-set game since 2008 and the second-most in a Big Ten contest.
In Saturday's four-set setback, the junior setter registered 43 helpers, which is tied for the fifth-most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten matchup. She also added 11 digs in helping to keep the Hoosiers to nine points in the third set, marking the first time Rutgers has held an opponent to single digits in a set.
Balyko currently has 2,056 career assists and needs 212 more to surpass Dannan Luca (1983-87) for sixth on the all-time list.
The weekly honor marks Balyko's second Big Ten weekly award honor. She was the first-ever recipient of a weekly award from the Big Ten when she was named Freshman of the Week back on Sept. 4, 2018.

Congrats to Inna Balyko on earning B1G Setter of the Week!

The @RUvball setter surpassed 2,000 career assists this weekend in their Friday win over Indiana. pic.twitter.com/LusE2OZPNd
— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) February 2, 2021

NOTES FROM THE INDIANA SERIES

Rutgers captured its first-ever home Big Ten opening victory and first-ever win over Indiana on Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights produced 10 top 10 Big Ten records including second-most aces (9), tie for third-most assist blocks (26), tie for fifth for the most total blocks (14.0) and tie for 10th for most digs (58). In four-set matches, it was the most aces (9) and digs (72), second-most total blocks (14.0), tie for fifth-most kills (46) and attempts (132) and tie for sixth-most assists (43).
Inna Balyko served up four aces, which was tied for the second-best performance by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten matchup.
Shea McNamara's career-high nine total blocks tied for the fifth-most in a Big Ten contest, while her career-high eight block assists tied for the eighth-best by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten matchup.
On Sunday, the nine points scored by Indiana in Rutgers' 25-9 third set victory were the fewest by a Rutgers opponent in a Big Ten matchup since joining the league in 2014.
Rutgers hit .314 marking its best hitting percentage in a Big Ten contest. Beka Kojadinovic's .520 hitting percentage was the thir- best and her 15 kills were the sixth most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten match.
Balyko's 43 helpers were 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.

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights welcome No. 4 Nebraska to the College Ave Gym on Friday, February 12th and Saturday, February 13th. Both matches begin at 4 p.m. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, there will be no admission to home games.

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- RU -

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Players Mentioned

Inna Balyko

Madyson Chitty

Kamila Cieslik

Kristina Grkovic

Beka Kojadinovic

Anastasiia Maksimova

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