PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers volleyball team captured a Big Ten sweep on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena downing the Iowa Hawkeyes 25-14, 25-14, 25-23. It was the Scarlet Knights' first conference sweep since 2019.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Freshman Taylor Humphrey put away a match-high 11 kills to go along with eight digs.
• Classmate Lexi Visintine, who garnered a start against the Hawkeyes, had a career-high eight kills in addition to six digs.
• Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo and senior Alyssa Nayar each had 13 assists.
• The Scarlet Knights had 11.0 team blocks led by Megan Vernon with two solo and four assisted swats. Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkela picked up five blocks.
• Junior Kristina Grkovic served up a trio of aces for the second-straight contest and had four blocks.
• Junior Madyson Chitty aided the defense with a match-high 14 digs.

KEY MOMENTS

• SET 1 (25-14) | Sophomore Lexi Visintine set a career-high in the opening set with four kills along with a trio of digs as Rutgers won the first set for the second-straight contest. Alissa Kinkela added four kills and a trio of blocks, while Megan Vernon collected four total rejections. After the Hawkeyes held a 4-2 edge, the Scarlet Knights would only allow the visitors back-to-back points one more time. The set was knotted at 5-5 when an Iowa service error and swing from Vernon gave RU the lead for good. Iowa put together consecutive points to trail 13-11 but the Scarlet Knights followed with a 9-1 run including seven unanswered points. Visintine had two of her kills during the burst. 
• SET 2 (25-14) | Rutgers went up 2-0 with the same score, but never trailed in the second set. The Scarlet Knights were able to capitalize on nine Hawkeye attack errors while Visintine, Taylor Humphrey and Kinkela each had three kills to lead RU. Grkovic also accumulated four of her five blocks in the set. Rutgers raced out to a 10-2 lead and continued to add to the advantage. A Grkovic kill put the Scarlet Knights ahead by double-digits at 15-5. RU closed out the set by outscoring Iowa 7-2.
• SET 3 (25-23) | The final set was the only stanza the Hawkeyes were not in a negative hitting range but were still limited to swinging at a .094 clip. The Scarlet Knights raced out to a 9-2 lead and held its largest advantage 17-10.  The Hawkeyes chipped away until the seven-point Scarlet Knight lead was reduced to a point at 22-21 and 24-23. Rutgers, however, never gave up the lead as an attack from Humphrey clinched the 3-0 victory. Humphrey totaled six kills while Grkovic tallied a pair of aces in the final frame.

KNIGHT NOTES

• It was the first straight-set Big Ten win for Rutgers since a 3-0 win at Iowa on November 2, 2019.
• Iowa's 14 first-frame points tied for the lowest by a Rutgers opponent in an opening set this season. RU also limited FDU to 14 en route in their home opener on Sept. 17 in a sweep of the Knights.
• The Hawkeyes' 14 second-set points were the lowest by a Rutgers opponent this season in a second frame. The previous low was 15 against the Citadel on Aug. 27 in a 3-2 victory and against Morgan State on Sept. 3 in a 3-0 win.
• With two solo blocks, Megan Vernon has totaled 15 on the year and moved into third on the rally-era season leaders list. She needs three more to tie former teammate Shealyn McNamara (2021) for second on the list.
• With three aces, Kristina Grkovic is one ace away from joining the rally-era season leaders list in the category. She has totaled 27 on the season. One more service ace will place the Scarlet Knight into a tie for 10^th with Ronnie Komisarek (2015).
• With four rejections, Grkovic is single digits away from cracking the rally-era season leaders list in total blocks. Grkovic currently has 74 total blocks and needs nine more to enter a four-way tie for ninth with Stasa Miljevic (2017), Lauren Cloyd (2015) and Eden Frazier (2015).

UP NEXT

• Rutgers hosts #15 Penn State in a BLACK OUT wrapping up the season series with the Nittany Lions on Sunday at noon at Jersey Mike's Arena.
• Admission to all home games is free.
• Parking is free with registration.
• Celebrate National Nacho Day on Sunday with $8 loaded nachos at the concession stand
• Visit the marketing table on the concourse on Sunday to enter a raffle to win a free TV.

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