PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball made it a sweep in the finale of the Rutgers 9/11 Memorial Tournament presented by the Bridgewater Marriott with a 25-20, 25-13, 25-23 victory over Brown.

The Scarlet Knight went 2-1 during the tournament and with Saturday's win over the Bears improved to 7-2 overall.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Fifth-year senior Kamila Cieslik was the lone player of the game in double-figure kills with 10.
• Senior Inna Balyko put up 18 assists with sophomore Lauren DeLo coming off the bench for a career-high 14 helpers.
• Graduate student Samantha Graver served up a season-high three aces.
• Graduate student Megan Vernon was among the starters and led the defense with four total blocks to go along with her season-high seven kills.
• Sophomore Madyson Chitty played her way to a game-high 14 digs.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (25-20) | The Scarlet Knight came out on fire rattling off seven consecutive points to open and led by as many as nine. Beka Kojadinovic swung for five of her eight kills on the day.
• Set 2 (25-13) | The momentum continued as Rutgers took a 2-0 lead hitting .440 for the frame while holding the Bears to a .000 hitting percentage. A 7-1 run started by two kills by Megan Vernon was responsible for pushing the Scarlet Knights out to a 17-7 lead and RU held a 12-point advantage late. The graduate student finished with four kills on all four of her attempts.
• Set 3 (25-23) | Brown took its first lead of the match in the final stanza and after six ties and five lead changes, the Scarlet Knights got their fifth sweep of the season. Stops by Kojadinovic and Vernon at the net gave Rutgers a 22-16 lead, but the Bears kept it close churning out six unanswered points take a 23-22 edge. RU closed the game out with a kill from Maksimova, an ace by Samantha Graver and solo block from Vernon.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Melissa Evans, NC State  - MVP
• Jade Parchment, NC State
• Shealyn McNamara, Rutgers
• Zoe Ubamadu, Brown
• Elley Torres, NJIT

KNIGHT NOTES

• Shealyn McNamara earned a nod to her second all-tournament team this season having been named to the UConn Challenge All-Tournament Team last weekend. The middle blocker totaled 17 blocks averaging 1.55 per set over the weekend's three contests. She also tied her season-high with 10 kills in the five-set matchup with NC State.
• Rutgers five sweeps thus far this season are the most by the Scarlet Knights since 2012.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

UP NEXT

• The Scarlet Knights close out nonconference action at the Big Orange Bash hosted by Clemson. RU will take on ETSU and the host Tigers on Friday, Sept. 17.

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