Volleyball Hits The Road To Meet No. 3 Wisconsin & Iowa

Friday, November 11

Madison, Wisc.

8:00 PM (ET)

Rutgers University

Wisconsin

Lauren DeLo serving against No. 15 Penn State at Jersey Mike's Arena

Photo by: Tom Gilbert

Volleyball Hits The Road To Meet No. 3 Wisconsin & Iowa

Nov 09 | Women's Volleyball

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball hits the road again traveling to national champion and No. 3 Wisconsin on Friday and wraps up the season series with Iowa on Sunday.

GAME DAY INFO

Venue:	Friday Wisconsin - UW Field House \| Madison, Wisconsin Sunday Iowa - Xtreme Arena \| Coralville, Iowa
Game Notes:	Rutgers \| Wisconsin \| Iowa \| Big Ten
Statistics:	Rutgers \| Wisconsin \| Iowa \| Big Ten
Video (Big Ten Plus):	Wisconsin \| Iowa
Live Stats:	Wisconsin \| Iowa
Social Media:	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Freshman Taylor Humphrey currently leads the Scarlet Knight offense a 2.60 k/s. The rookie has led RU in kills in the last three-straight contests and four of the last five matches. She had 11 double-figure kill matches, which included 16 kills at No. 5 Purdue and 10 kills at No. 6 Ohio State and No. 13 Penn State. Humphrey has led RU in ten contests this season with nine double-digit outings. and led RU in the category 12 times.
Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkela meanwhile adds 2.59 k/s and has led RU in kills nine times this season.
Assisting the offense has been redshirt junior Lauren DeLo. DeLo, who is fourth in the rally era averaging 6.30 a/s over her career, is putting up 7.08 helpers per set and ranks 10th in the Big Ten.
Junior middle Kristina Grkovic, meanwhile, leads the squad with 28 aces, including a career-high five in RU's victory over FDU in the final nonconference weekend. More recently, she joined the rally-era season leaders' top 10 list. Grkovic is also third on the team in kills at 2.17 k/s hitting a team second-best .252. On defense, she has racked up 90 blocks, coming up with 1.10 b/s. She recently joined the Rutgers rally-era season solo block leaders and vaulted into fourth with three solo blocks at Indiana last weekend.
Graduate student Vernon is also tied with Grkovic for the lead in total rejections with 90 blocks. She among the all-time rally-era leaders in career and solo blocks with 15 this season and 20 in her career. She is also swinging at a team-leading .274 clip for the offense.
Junior Madyson Chitty is averaging 2.69 d/s this season and is fourth in the rally era with 3.07 d/s over her career. Two weeks ago against Illinois, she became the seventh Scarlet Knight to surpass the 800-career dig mark in the rally era.

CONFERENCE NOTABLES

The Scarlet Knights have won a set in four of its last six matches including a straight-set win over Iowa along with set wins against Northwestern and Illinois at home along with a set win on the road at Indiana.
Rutgers is coming off playing its fifth top-25 program of the season and nearly pulled off a third-set win against No. 15 Penn State on Nov. 6. The Scarlet Knights held a 20-14 advantage in the third set before the Nittany Lions came back to win by two, 26-24. In the match, Kristina Grkovic joined the rally-era season ace leaders list.
The Scarlet Knights earned a 25-14, 25-14, 25-23 victory over Iowa on Nov. 13 at Jersey Mike's Arena marking the first Big Ten sweep since 2019. It was the first straight-set Big Ten win for the Scarlet Knights since a 3-0 win at Iowa on November 2, 2019.
In the first match with the Fighting Illini on Oct. 12, the Scarlet Knights nearly pulled off a second-set victory leading 23-21 before the hosts closed out on a 5-1 run and an unsuccessful Rutgers challenge on the last point. Illinois ended up taking the second set 26-24 in a frame that saw 11 ties and seven lead changes. In the rematch at the College Ave gym on Oct. 30, RU did get a first-set victory over the Fighting Illini. The opening frame had 11 ties and five lead changes as the Scarlet Knights won the set 25-21 to take an opening set win for the first time since a 25-20 win over No. 8 Purdue on Nov 7, 2021.
Two Scarlet Knights had career nights at the net in a 3-1 setback on the road at Indiana on Oct. 28. Kristina Grkovic totaled a career-high 10 rejections behind a career-best three solo blocks while Bekah Williams swatted away four opponent attacks.
The Scarlet Knights closed out the season series with Northwestern on Oct. 21 with Lauren DeLo posting her first career double-double behind 24 assists and 10 digs, while Kristina Grkovic joined the Rutgers rally-era solo block top ten
At Ohio State on Oct. 15, Rutgers took on its third top-10 program of the season. Humphrey had her seventh game with double-digit kills and second versus a top-10 team with 10 at Ohio State.
Freshman Bekah Williams led Rutgers on the attack for the first time in her career with nine kills versus Maryland on Oct. 18. Additionally, Taylor Humphrey collected a career-high 14 digs against the Terps.
Rutgers had a top-five weekend to close out September and open October as the Scarlet Knights hosted No. 3 Nebraska and hit the road for the first time in Big Ten action with a trip to No. 5 Purdue. The Scarlet Knights were swept by the Cornhuskers, the 2021 national runner-ups, and played the Boilermakers to 21 ties and eight lead changes in the first two sets in a 3-0 loss.
Against No. 5 Purdue, Humphrey put away 16 kills becoming only the second freshman on the rally-era individual match performance top 10 list.
Rutgers opened the Big Ten slate at home with a three-set loss to Michigan, a team receiving votes in the poll, and a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Michigan State.
Against Michigan on Sept. 23, Madyson Chitty surpassed the 700-career dig mark and moved into the top 10 of the rally-era career leaders list. More recently she moved into seventh on the list.
In their first conference win, a 3-2 victory over Michigan State on Sept. 25, the Scarlet Knights were down 0-2 before storming back to take the next three sets for their first Big Ten victory. RU posted 19.0 blocks in the match, the second-most in a game of the rally era and the most ever by the Scarlet Knights in a Big Ten contest. Humphrey had her second double-double this year with 14 kills and 11 digs while Megan Vernon had a career-high 11 total blocks.
It was the second time under head coach Caitlin Schweihofer that the Scarlet Knights had come back from a 2-0 deficit to claim victory. Rutgers also had a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over UMBC last season. Before that five-set win over the Retrievers, RU's last five-set come-from-behind win was over Wofford in 2012.

NONCONFERENCE NOTABLES

Megan Vernon set a new career mark in kills with her 13 against St. Thomas and her .650 hitting percentage ranks third in the single-game rally-era record book. Additionally, Vernon has totaled 10 block assists thus far in 2022 joining the rally-era single-season top 10 in the category last weekend.
Lauren DeLo made the Rambler Classic All-Tournament Team after totaling 61 assists and 10 blocks over the weekend's three games. She made a career-high five kills against Loyola hitting .667 and had a career-high four blocks against the Ramblers, as well as Kansas State. She also served up an ace in each match.
Madyson Chitty became the 14th Scarlet Knight to cross the 600-career dig in the opening weekend at the College of Charleston. She is 10 digs away from cracking the rally era top 10 in career digs and 11 digs away from becoming the 10th Scarlet Knights to surpass the 700-career dig threshold. She posted a career-high 24 digs in the opener against Fresno State.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Alissa Kinkela was named the College of Charleston Classic Most Valuable Player. The Melbourne, Australia native totaled 46 kills, averaging 3.84 per set, hitting .310 on the weekend.
Middle blockers Kristina Grkovic and freshman Taylor Humphrey were also named to the College of Charleston All-Tournament. Grkovic led RU with 14 blocks, averaging 1.17 per set while averaging 2.50 kills per set and swinging at a .333 clip. Humphrey, in her debut weekend, racked up 37 kills, for 3.70 per frame along with 16 digs.
Also at the College of Charleston Classic, freshman Taylor Humphrey collected 18 kills in the win over the host Cougars marking the most kills by a Scarlet Knight in a three-set match of the rally era. The last RU player to have 18 kills in a three-set contest was Sahbria McLetichie against Coppin State back on Aug. 31, 2018.
The Scarlet Knights opened the 2022 season at a 3-0 start for the first time since 1998 at the College of Charleston Classic. RU opened 2022 with a 3-1 win over Fresno State and followed with a five-set victory over The Citadel, the 2021 SoCon Champions and NCAA Tournament Team, and a sweep of host College of Charleston.

COACHING NOTABLES

Head coach Caitlin Schweihofer embarks on her third season "On The Banks" having made notable strides with the program in her first two seasons.
In year one in the spring of 2021, Rutgers tripled its conference win total along with capturing numerous program firsts including its first-ever All-Big Ten honoree and Big Ten series sweeps. Over the season, RU established new team, season and match records for aces and reset program Big Ten game bests in kills, attempts, attacked percentage and assists.
A mere four months later Schweihofer's Scarlet Knights were back in action for year two where they kicked off the fall 2021 season going 8-3 for the squad's best nonconference record since 2012. Rutgers battled eight top 25 teams during Big Ten play, which included not only eight NCAA teams, but the national runner-up in Nebraska and national champion in Wisconsin.

RECORD BOOK UPDATES

Madyson Chitty became the seventh Scarlet Knight to cross the 800-career dig threshold in the rally era last weekend. She is currently seventh in career digs with 820 and needs 43 more to go past former teammate Beka Kojadinovic (2017-21) for sixth.
Megan Vernon is third on the rally-era season block solo list with 15 and Kristina Grkovic is fourth with 13 in 2022. They are looking to surpass former teammate Shealyn McNamara who is second on the list with 18 blocks and Rachel Andreassian who leads the list with 19.
Grkovic and Vernon also appear on the rally-era season solo blocks list. Grkovic is eighth with 21 career solo blocks while Vernon is ninth with 20. Rachel Andreassian (2012-14) and former teammate Shealyn McNamara (2020-21) hold the sixth spot with 23 solo blocks while Jasmine Stackhouse ranks fifth with 24.
Grkovic joined the rally-era season ace leaders list last weekend against No. 15 Penn State. She is currently in a tie for 10th with Ronnie Komisarek (2015). She needs one more ace to tie former teammate Inna Balyko for eighth. Balyko collected 29 aces in both 2018 and 2021. Grkovic will need two more aces to tie former teammate Beka Kojadinovic for seventh on the list and four more to tie Tali Marmen (2019) and Hanna Curtis (201) for fifth.
Grkovic is also coming close to joining the rally-era career top 10 in total blocks and block assists. She needs 14 more total blocks and 19 more block assists to crack the lists.
Lauren DeLo has collected 680 career assists in her three seasons "On The Banks". She needs 20 more helpers to become the eighth Scarlet Knight of the rally era to dish out 700 assists in a career.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN

The defending national champions welcome the Scarlet Knights on Friday for the first of two meetings this season sporting a 19-3 overall record and 13-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Badgers are currently ranked No. 3 in the latest AVCA Top 25 Poll.
Wisconsin has won 12 straight since a 3-0 loss at Minnesota on Sept. 25.
Nationally, the Badgers are second in blocks per set (3.08) behind Maryland, and rank second in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.259) and aces (1.74).
Sarah Franklin is fifth in the Big Ten at 3.81 k/s with Izzy Ashburn 6.27 a/s. Danielle Hart, meanwhile, is second in the Big Ten swinging .382 with 118 kills. MJ Hammill 27 aces and Ashburn 26 aces ranking fifth and tenth in the league respectively.
Gulce Guctekin checks in seventh among league players at 3.91 d/s Danielle Hart has collected 114 blocks for 1.63 per set ranking second in the conference with Caroline Crawford adding a Big Ten sixth-best 1.40 rejections per set.

SCOUTING IOWA

Iowa hosts the Scarlet Knights after Rutgers picked up a 3-0 victory last Friday night at Jersey Mike's arena. The Hawkeyes are 7-18 overall and 1-13 in Big Ten action. The Hawkeyes have dropped their last eight matches and 13 of their last 14. Iowa's last win was a five-set victory at home against Indiana on Oct. 8.
The Hawkeyes are led by Michelle Urquhart at 2.58 k/s followed by Amiya Jones at 2.56 k/s. Lily Tessier directs the offense to the tune of 7.08 a/s. Amiya Jones, meanwhile, is serving up a team-leading 36 aces and ranks sixth in the Big Ten at 0.40 aces per set.
On the defense, Iowa is led by Mari Hinkle at 4.16 d/s and McSweeney with 0.81 b/s. Hinkle is fifth in the Big Ten in digs per set.

UP NEXT

Rutgers volleyball hosts its final home weekend closing out the series with Wisconsin on Friday Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. and No. 9 Minnesota on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena.
Prior to first serve against the Golden Gophers, the Scarlet Knights will celebrate its seniors – Lauren DeLo, Rachel Tam & Megan Vernon – in a pregame ceremony.
The Scarlet Knights will also be signing postgame autographs in the lobby following the Minnesota match.
Admission to all home games is free.
Parking is free with registration.