EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Rutgers volleyball team took set one from host Michigan State on Wednesday night at the Breslin Center, 25-22, but the Spartans came back with 25-23, 25-15 and 25-20 set wins to take the match.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkela captured 21 kills, a new career high and the second most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten match. Kinkela has reached double-digit kills in three of the last four games averaging 4.08 kills per set during the span.
• Freshman Taylor Humphrey added 14 kills and swung .324, her second-best hitting percentage in a conference match this season.
• Junior Kristina Grkovic was just shy of reaching double-figure kills ending the match with nine while adding four services aces and three blocks. It marked her fifth match this season with three or more aces.
• Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo directed the attack for 19 assists to crack the rally-era season top 10 and logged three blocks, while senior Alyssa Nayar added 16 helpers and was shy of a double-double with eight digs.
• Defensively, junior Madyson Chitty led RU with 14 digs while Megan Vernon totaled four rejections. Vernon's solo block moved her up to second on the rally-era season leaders list and is now one solo block shy of tying for the rally-era leader.

KEY MOMENTS

• SET 1 (25-22) | Taylor Humphrey led Rutgers with five kills in the opening set while Lauren DeLo and Kristina Grkovic added aces. A 5-0 run fueled by a pair of Humphrey kills gave Rutgers a 10-6 advantage. While the Spartans came back to tie the set at 11-11, Rutgers produced another 5-0 outburst this time behind a pair of blocks by Megan Vernon. Again, Michigan State make it close taking the next four points to pull within one at 16-15, but the Scarlet Knights remained in front. The Spartans again pulled within a point at 20-19, but RU scored four of the next five to stay in control while Humphrey's final swing of the set gave the Scarlet Knights the win.
• SET 2 (23-25) | The Scarlet Knights and Spartans were tied seven times in the second set as Michigan State knotted the match at 1-1. Humphrey added another five kills with Vernon coming up with another pair of blocks. The Spartans took their largest lead of the set at 22-17, but the Scarlet Knights came back to pull within a point at 24-23. During the 6-2 RU run, Kinkela captured a trio of kills including a swing that thwarted the Spartan's first chance at set point.
• SET 3 (15-25) | Kinkela came away with eight kills in the third set while Grkovic served up a pair of aces. Michigan State took a 12-6 advantage when Rutgers was able to rattle off four-consecutive points. Kills from Grkovic, Humphrey and Kinkela had the Scarlet Knights trailing 12-10, but the Spartans added to their advantage to follow with a 9-2 run.
• SET 4 (20-25) | One of Kinkela's five kills in the frame had Rutgers trailing 14-12, but Michigan State proceeded to outscore RU 6-1 for a 20-13 lead. The Scarlet Knights, however, were able to reduce its deficit to three powering back on a 6-2 run. During the stretch, Grkovic came up with a kill and a block while a Humphrey swing had RU down 22-19 before the Spartans took the match.  

KNIGHT NOTES

• Alissa Kinkela was the first Scarlet Knight to reach 20 or more kills in a match since Kamila Cieslik captured 20 in a 3-1 victory over Penn back on Sept 15, 2017. Kinkela's 21 kills were the second-most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten match. Meme Fletcher holds the record with 25 against Maryland on Oct. 21, 2015.
  Kinkela's 21 kills also moved the redshirt freshman Scarlet Knight onto the rally-era season kills top 10 list with 293. She needs just three more kills to move past Kylie Orr (2012) for ninth and 14 more to surpass Caitlin Saxton (2010) for eighth.
• Madyson Chitty's 14 digs moved her into sixth place on the rally-era career leaders list. Chitty currently has 872 career digs in her three seasons "On The Banks" and needs 18 more to move into a tie for fifth with former teammate Inna Balyko (2018-21).
• Megan Vernon moved up the rally-era season solo blocks leaders list into a tie for second with former teammate Shealyn McNamara with 18. Vernon needs one more solo block to move into a tie with Rachel Andreassian (2013) as the rally-era leader in season solo blocks.
• Vernon also moved into a three-way tie for sixth on the rally-era career solo blocks leaders list with 23 in her two seasons at Rutgers. She needs one more to move into a tie for fifth with Jasmine Stackhouse (2016-19).
• With her four service aces, Kristina Grkovic moved into a tie for third on the rally-era season leaders list with 34. She needs two more to tie Kamila Cieslik (2017) for second and four more to tie Tracy Wright (2013) as the rally-era leader in season service aces.
• Grkovic also moved into a tie for fifth on the rally-era season total blocks leaders list with 101 rejections. She is currently five blocks behind teammate Megan Vernon who is in fourth with 106 total blocks.  
• With her 19 assists, Lauren DeLo cracked the top 10 in rally-era season assists. She currently has 664 career helpers in her three seasons at Rutgers.

UP NEXT

• The Rutgers volleyball team wraps up its 2022 season on Friday, Nov. 25 at Michigan at 7 p.m.

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