NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball opened Sunday's match with Illinois at the College Ave Gym with a 25-21 victory, but the visiting Fighting Illini came back to take the next three sets 25-18, 25-12, 25-19.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• The Scarlet Knights picked up a set victory for the third time in four games.
• Freshman Taylor Humphrey notched double-figure kills for the ninth time this season and led RU in kills for the 10th time in 2022 with 10 kills. She also added five digs and two blocks. Graduate student Megan Vernon hit .600 with nine kills on 15 attacks while adding four blocks. Freshman Bekah Williams also had nine kills.
• Junior Kristina Grkovic added seven kills, three aces and four blocks. Her three services aces were the most by the Scarlet Knights since Grkovic put away her career-high five aces in the straight-set victory over FDU on Sept. 17. Additionally, RU totaled six aces, the most since Oct. 2.
• Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo notched 22 assists.
• Junior Madyson Chitty collected seven digs enroute to surpassing the 800-career dig mark.

KEY MOMENTS

• SET 1 (25-21) | The opening set had eleven ties and five lead changes as Rutgers picked up an opening Big Ten set victory for the first time since taking a 25-20 first-frame victory off No. 8 Purdue on November 7 of last season. Kristina Grkovic led the attack with four kills on six swings as the Scarlet Knights hit a match-best .333. Illinois pulled out to a three-point lead at 13-10 and again at 16-13. The Fighting Illini held a 19-17 edge when the Scarlet Knights went on to outscore the opposition 8-2 to close. The burst included a pair of kills from Taylor Humphrey and Grkovic.
• SET 2 (18-25) | The Fighting Illini came back to lead from start to finish in the second set. Illinois led by as many as eight, which Rutgers was able to cut in half late in the frame. The visitors led 19-12 when the Scarlet Knights put together a 6-3 run to trail 22-18. During the run Grkovic and Williams both added kills and teamed up for a block while Alissa Kinkela added one of RU's six aces of the match.
• SET 3 (12-25) | A swing by Bekah Williams had RU down 8-6 when the Fighting Illini scored eight straight en route to a 2-1 lead. Illinois hit a match-best .433 and was limited to just two attack errors. Megan Vernon, meanwhile, led Rutgers with points on four of her six swings, hitting .667 for the set.
• SET 4 (19-25) | One of Humphrey's three kills saw RU trail 13-10, but the Fighting Illini jumped out to an eight-point advantage behind a 6-1 run. The Scarlet Knights whittled down the deficit down in half late. Grkovic and Humphrey teamed up to reject a Fighting Illini attack as Rutgers got as close as 22-18. Bekah Williams collected four kills in the final frame.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Kristina Grkovic moved into a three-way tie for fourth on the rally-era season block solo leaders list. She is tied with Hannah Curtis (2011) and current teammate Megan Vernon with 13. She needs one more solo block to move into a tie for third with Mikaela Matthews (2013) and five more to move into a tie for second with former teammate Shealyn McNamara (2021).
• The junior Scarlet Knight also moved into eighth on the rally-era career leaders list with 20 solo blocks in her three seasons "On The Banks". She needs three more to move into a three-way tie for sixth with Rachel Andressian (2012-14) and former teammate Shealyn McNamara (2020-21).
• With her three aces against the Fighting Illini, Grkovic has now totaled 24 on the year. She is four service aces away from joining the rally-era season ace top 10 list.
• Madyson Chitty surpassed the 800-dig career mark against the Fighting Illini becoming the seventh Scarlet Knight of the rally era to reach the milestone.

UP NEXT

• The Rutgers volleyball team is back at Jersey Mike's Arena next weekend.
• The Scarlet Knights host Iowa on Friday, November 4 at 7 p.m. and encourage fans to BLACK OUT the arena on Sunday, Nov. 6 as they close out the season series with No. 11 Penn State at noon.
• Admission to all home games is free.
• Parking is free with registration.
• Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.