PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball closed out the home portion of its 2022 schedule on Sunday afternoon at Jersey Mike's Arena against No. 9 Minnesota.  It marked back-to-back top 10 programs entering the Scarlet Knights' home court this weekend and the eighth top 25 team Rutgers has faced this season.

The Golden Gophers took the first two sets 25-11 and 25-19 but needed extra points in the third set to past the Scarlet Knights. The final set saw 15 ties and seven lead changes between the two squads with Rutgers up 22-19 before Minnesota came back to take the match with a 26-24 win.

Following the contest, Rutgers honored its graduating Scarlet Knights Lauren DeLo, Rachel Tam and Megan Vernon.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkela collected a game-high 11 kills, while freshman Lexi Visintine registered a career-high nine kills. Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo meanwhile posted points on four of her five swings to hit .800 on the day.
• Senior Alyssa Nayar and DeLo both were in double-figure assists with 14 and 12 helpers respectively. DeLo's 12 assists moved her into a tie for seventh on the Rutgers rally-era career assist leaders list.
• Defensively, the Scarlet Knights were led by junior Madyson Chitty's 12 digs and three blocks from the hands of Kinkela.

KEY MOMENTS

• SET 1 (11-25) | The Golden Gophers took advantage of 12 Scarlet Knight errors for the 1-0 lead. One of Lexi Visintine's three kills from the set saw Rutgers down by a pair of points at 7-5. Minnesota, however, proceeded on a 7-1 run and continued to extend its lead.
• SET 2 (19-25) | The Scarlet Knights rebounded with its best hitting percentage of the match swinging at a .370 clip with Alissa Kinkela blasting five of her seven attacks for kills. RU trailed 6-5 when Minnesota went on a 6- 1 run to pull ahead 14-7. Kinkela scored RU's final three points of the set to close the deficit to 23-19.
• SET 3 (24-26) | Rutgers almost pulled out the third set. The final frame saw 15 ties and seven lead changes with the Scarlet Knight up 22-19. RU put together four answered points for the 22-19 edge thanks in part to a kill and block from Kinkela. The Golden Gophers, however, came back to knot the score at 23-23. A Minnesota service error put Rutgers at match point, but the Golden Gophers eked out the victory with the final three points.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Lauren DeLo's 12 assists moved her into a tie with Kallie Pence (2008-11) for seventh on the Rutgers rally-era career leaders list. She has accumulated 730 assists in her three seasons "On The Banks".
• Megan Vernon's two blocks moved her into sole possession of ninth place on the rally-era block assist season leaders list with 85 . She needs four more rejections to tie Inna Balyko (2018) for eighth, five more to tie Eden Frazier (2014) for seventh, and six more to tie Mikaela Mathews (2016) for sixth.

UP NEXT

• Rutgers volleyball wraps up the 2022 season on the road taking traveling to Michigan State on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and Michigan on Friday, Nov. 25.

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