PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball took a set on Northwestern on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena, but it was the Wildcats in four, 25-19, 24-26, 25-12, 25-16.

Rutgers redshirt junior setter Lauren DeLo picked up her first career double-double and junior middle blocker Kristina Grkovic cracked the Rutgers rally-era career solo block top 10 list.  
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Junior Kristina Grkovic and freshman Bekah Williams paced the offense with eight kills each.
• Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo posted 24 assists along with a career-high and team-leading 10 digs for her first career double-double.
• Rutgers totaled 18 blocks (2 solo, 16 assisted) led by six rejections from graduate student Megan Vernon and six from the hands of freshman Taylor Humphrey.

KEY MOMENTS

• SET 1 (19-25) | Northwestern used an 8-2 burst early for a 10-5 lead. Megan Vernon, on one of her four blocks in the frame, closed the gap to 12-9, but the Wildcats responded with another run. Northwestern followed outscoring the Scarlet Knights 5-1 to extend its advantage to 17-10. Kristina Grkovic swung for four of her eight kills in the opening set.
• SET 2 (26-24) | Rutgers picked up its first set win since its 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Michigan State to knot the match at 1-1. After coming up with four first-set blocks to lead the defense in the first set, Vernon hit .625 with five kills on eight swings to lead the attack in the second set. Northwestern hit just .093 committing 11 attack errors and three service errors. With the Wildcats up 3-2, Rutgers scored the next five points, which included Bekah Williams' second-ever solo block, and never relinquished the lead.  Northwestern pulled within a point at 14-13 but Rutgers built up a five-point edge as RU was the first team to 20. The Wildcats came back to tie the set up at 24-24, but attack errors proved costly for Northwestern giving the Scarlet Knights the win.
• SET 3 (12-25) | After hitting only .093, the Wildcats bounced back with its best hitting percentage of the night swinging at a .484 clip en route to taking a 2-1 lead. One of Alissa Kinkela's three kills saw Rutgers trail 12-10, but the Wildcats would only allow Rutgers a pair of Grkovic kills to conclude the set.
• SET 4 (16-25) | There were four ties and three lead changes before Northwestern was able to take the season series. Rutgers held a 5-4 lead when the Wildcats pounced with five consecutive points. The Scarlet Knights pulled within a point at 10-9 thanks to blocks from four different Scarlet Knights and a kill from Grkovic, but the Wildcats kept the lead answering with a 6-1 burst.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Lauren DeLo became the third Scarlet Knight this season to perform a double-double. Her 10 digs were a career-high surpassing her previous mark captured in games with Fresno State, Illinois and No. 6 Ohio State this season.
• Kristina Grkovic moved into a tie for 10^th on the rally-era career solo block list with 16 career solo rejections. She needs one more solo block to move into a three-way tie for eighth with Lauren Cloyd (2013-16) and current teammate Megan Vernon.

UP NEXT

• The Rutgers volleyball team hits the road against No. 13 Penn State at Rec Hall on Sunday, Oct. 23. First serve is set for 1 p.m.

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