Friday, October 1
Evanston, Ill.
8:00 PM (ET)
Rutgers University
at
Northwestern
Photo by: Rich Graessle
Volleyball's First B1G Road Trip Takes Scarlet Knights To Northwestern, No. 4 Purdue
Sep 29 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball is on the road this weekend traveling to Northwestern on Friday, Oct. 1 and No. 4 Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 2 for its first conference road tilts.
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
| GAME DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Welsh Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. Holloway Gymnasium | West Lafayette, Ind. |
| Game Notes: | Rutgers | Northwestern | Purdue |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Northwestern | Purdue | Big Ten |
| Video: | at Northwestern | at Purdue |
| Live Stats: | at Northwestern | at Purdue |
| Social Media: | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers heads into its first Big Ten road weekend at 8-5 overall after opening the conference slate with back-to-back top 25 opponents. The Scarlet Knights dropped 3-0 matches to No. 20 Penn State and No. 2 Wisconsin in the first-ever league matches at the RAC. RU went 8-3 in nonconference action for its best record since 2012 capturing five sweeps along the way.
- Fifth-year senior Beka Kojadinovic continues to lead the attack with 3.00 kills per set followed by classmate Kamila Cieslik at 2.34 kills per set. The Scarlet Knights also have two ranked among the Big Ten's top ten in hitting percentage. Sophomore Kristina Grkovic is ninth among her league peers swinging .364 followed by redshirt senior Shealyn McNamara hitting .358.
- Kojadinovic is also edging closer to becoming Rutgers' all-time rally-era leader in aces needing four more to surpass Ronnie Komiarek (2012-15) for the top spot. She enters the weekend with 91 career aces. Defensively, she is also nine blocks away from cracking the rally-era top 10.
- Senior Inna Balyko, RU's first-ever First Team All-Big Ten selection who is fifth all-time and second in the rally era in assists, is averaging 9.56 helpers per frame and surpassed the 3,000 career assist mark last Sunday against the Badgers.
- Sophomore Madyson Chitty is collecting 4.23 digs per set for the defense and in just 11 games into her second season "On The Banks" is third in the rally era in digs per set. She is also eighth in the category in the Big Ten.
- McNamara, meanwhile, not only ranks among the league's top hitters but also one of the stalwarts at the net. She has 57 total rejections and is averaging 1.27 blocks per set to check-in 10th in the conference. She has led RU in the category in all but four games.
| SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN |
- The Wildcats welcome the Scarlet Knights to the windy city at 5-8 overall coming off two losses in their Big Ten opening week. Northwestern fell 3-1 to No. 12 Nebraska last Wednesday and fell 3-2 at Illinois last Saturday with set wins in the first and fourth set before the Illini took the match with a 15-9 victory in the deciding frame.
- Temi Thomas-Ailara leads the Northwestern offense with 3.54 kills per set and 21 aces. She is ninth in the league in kills. Setting up the attack is Alexa Rousseau at 9.32 assists per set. Rousseau is one of six Division I players with a triple-double this season having logged 10 kills, 43 assists and 15 digs in the Wildcats' 2021 opener at Northern Colorado.
- On defense, Hanna Lesiak is contributing 2.11 digs per set, while Desiree Becker has collected 54 total blocks for 1.04 per set.
| SCOUTING PURDUE |
- The Boilermakers are one of six teams from the Big Ten in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll. Purdue is the highest-ranked squad among the group at No. 4, also marking the Boilermakers highest ranking in school history. Purdue is 10-1 overall which includes victories over No. 25 Washington State, No. 22 Tennessee, as well as a five-set win over No. 3 Ohio State last Friday. The lone setback on the season was a 3-0 loss against No. 10 Louisville.
- Grace Cleveland and Caitlyn Newton are the go-to's on the attack. Cleveland leads the Boilermakers and is eighth in the Big Ten at 3.54 kills per with eight aces. Newton, meanwhile, adds 3.51 kills per set along with a team-leading nine service aces. Hayley Bush is fourth among Big Ten setters at 10.60 assists per set.
- Jena Otec is contributing 4.24 digs per set to rank sixth in the category in the conference, while Taylor Tramell has made 32 rejections for 1.45 blocks per frame to place her name ninth in the Big Ten.
| UP NEXT |
- Rutgers comes back to the RAC for a pair of Big Ten games hosting Indiana on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. and No. 12 Nebraska on Sunday, Oct. 10 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.
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