PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers volleyball team kicks off the home portion of its 2021 schedule hosting the Rutgers 9/11 Memorial Tournament presented by the Bridgewater Marriott at the RAC on Friday and Saturday featuring NJIT, NC State and Brown.
 

GAME DAY INFO

 

Venue:	The RAC | Piscataway, N.J.
Game Notes:	Rutgers | NJIT | NC State | Brown
Statistics:	Rutgers | NJIT | NC State | Brown | Big Ten
TV:	Fri - Rutgers vs. NC State
Video:	Friday: Rutgers vs. NJIT Brown vs. NC State Saturday: Brown vs. NJIT  NC State vs. NJIT Rutgers vs. Brown
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Social Media:	Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

           

FAN INFORMATION

• Admission is free to all tournament games.
• Face coverings are required as the University continues to uphold health and safety practices in accordance with campus, local and state guidelines for indoor venues.
• Fans must register for parking here.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Friday, September 10

• Rutgers vs. NJIT – 11 a.m. 
• Brown vs. NC State – 2 p.m. 
• Rutgers vs. NC State – 6:30 p.m. 

Saturday, Sept. 11

• Brown vs. NJIT – 10 a.m. 
• NC State vs. NJIT – 2 p.m. 
• Rutgers vs. Brown – 5 p.m.

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

• The Scarlet Knights improved to 5-1 on the year last weekend for the best start since 2012 taking home UConn Challenge with a 3-0 record. RU captured sweeps of Central Connecticut State and the host Huskies, as well as a 3-1 victory over Lafayette.
• Fifth-year senior Beka Kojadinovic was named MVP and joined senior Inna Balyko and redshirt senior Shea McNamara on the all-tournament team.
• Among the notables from last weekend, Kojadinovic moved up to second in career aces during the rally era and RU captured its best hitting percentage of the rally era against CCSU (.450).
• Kojadinovic continues to lead the attack with 3.30 kills per set and 10 aces on the year.  She is seventh in the Big Ten in aces. Classmate Kamila Cieslik is second on the squad at 2.63 kills per set followed by senior Anastasiia Maksimova at 2.44 kills per set. 
• Sophomore Kristina Grkovic, meanwhile, is hitting a team-best .426, which places her eighth among her Big Ten peers.
• Inna Balyko checks in at 9.95 assists per set, which places her ninth in the Big Ten.
• Defensively, sophomore Madyson Chitty is coming off a career-high 23 digs performance in the four-set win over Lafayette last Saturday. She is currently averaging 4.95 digs per set, currently third in the Big Ten.
• At the net, McNamara set a new career-high with 11 blocks against Leopards and is averaging 1.38 blocks per set. She is ninth in the category in the Big Ten.
   

SCOUTING NJIT

• The fellow New Jersey team in this weekend's tournament 1-4 on the year coming off a 3-0 setback at Lafayette on Tuesday night.
• The Highlanders' Elley Torres is capturing 2.33 kills per set with Kyla Lannert making 6.07 assists per stanza.
  Courtney Branch leads NJIT at the net with 18 total blocks to average 1.20 per set, while Udo Nwosu is collecting 2.00 digs per set.

SCOUTING NC STATE

• The Wolfpack come to the RAC at 2-4 overall and are coming off a 2-1 record last weekend with sweeps over Wofford and East Carolina along with a 3-1 setback to Colorado State at home.
• Offensively, NC State is led by Jade Parchment at 3.71 kills per set to go along with team-leading five aces. Kristen McDaniel has been setting up the attack at 10.71 assists per set and has also added five aces and contributed 3.43 digs per set.
• Jada Allen has totaled 15 blocks thru six games averaging 0.71 per set. In week one, she was named to the Tennessee Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 2.18 kills per frame and hitting .408 in losses to ETSU, Texas Tech and the host Lady Vols.

SCOUTING BROWN

• Brown enters the weekend at 3-1 overall coming off a sweep of Bryant on Tuesday night.
  Kate Sheire is the go-to on offense at 2.93 kills per set with Cierra Jenkins setting up 9.07 assists per set for the Highlands.
  On defense, Brown is led by Kaitlyn Wong with 4.07 digs per set and Beau Vanderlaan with 14 blocks, posting one per set.

UP NEXT

• The Scarlet Knights head to their final nonconference tournament in South Carolina. Rutgers travels to the Big Orange Bash to meet ETSU and host Clemson on Friday, Sept. 17.

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