Friday, August 26
Charleston, S.C.
4:30 PM
Rutgers University
vs
Fresno State
Photo by: Ariel Fox
Volleyball Opens Season at College of Charleston Classic
Aug 24 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The fall season has arrived with the Scarlet Knights opening up the season with three matches at the College of Charleston Classic on Friday and Saturday with matches against Fresno State, the Citadel and College of Charleston
Friday, August 26
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
| GAME DAY INFO |
| Venue: | TD Arena | Charleston, S.C. |
| Game Notes: | Rutgers | Fresno State | The Citadel | College of Charleston |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Fresno State | The Citadel | College of Charleston | Big Ten |
| Video: | vs. College of Charleston only (FloVolleyball $) |
| Live Stats: | vs. Fresno State | vs. The Citadel | vs. College of Charleston |
| Social Media: | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
| TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE |
- College of Charleston vs. Fresno State – Noon
- Rutgers vs. Fresno State – 4:30 p.m.
- College of Charleston vs. The Citadel – 7:00 p.m.
- The Citadel vs. Fresno State – 2:00 p.m.
- College of Charleston vs. Rutgers – 7:00 p.m.
| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- 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.
- During the 2021 campaign, 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. The Scarlet Knights captured set wins over No. 8 Purdue and No. 15 Penn State and took Illinois to five sets in front of a national audience on BTN.
- For 2022, the Scarlet Knights welcome back seven letterwinners including two-year starting libero Madyson Chitty along with middle blockers Kristina Grkovic and Megan Vernon, who saw significant court time. Eight newcomers – a combo of four transfers and four freshmen – will also factor into this year's lineup.
- Chitty currently ranks fourth in the rally era with 3.27 digs per game through 49 total match appearances and is 124 digs away from cracking the rally era top 10 in career digs. Last season, she led RU with 3.46 digs per set, fifth among season rally era leaders, and totaled 353, to land her name eighth among rally era season leaders.
- On this year's schedule, eight opponents appear on the Preseason AVCA Poll including No. 1 Nebraska, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 13 Purdue, No. 17 Illinois, No. 20 Penn State and RV Michigan.
| SCOUTING FRESNO STATE |
- The Bulldogs went 12-14 in 2022 with an 8-10 record and tied for a seventh-place finish in Mountain West competition.
- Head coach Abbie Wright makes her Fresno State debut with seven returning Bulldogs from last year's team along with seven newcomers.
- Senior middle blocker Grace Doyle is the top returner from the stat sheet in kills (2.01 k/s), hitting percentage (.357), aces (37) and blocks (97).
- Fresno State also welcomes back Brooke Cowie at setter who posted a team second-best 316 assists (4.33 a/s).
| SCOUTING THE CITADEL |
- Rutgers will be facing its first 2021 NCAA squad of the season in this weekend's second game.
- The Citadel ended 2021 at 14-12 overall and won the Southern Conference Tournament after registering an 8-9 league record under sixth-year head coach Dave Zelenock. The Cadets took on No. 8 Georgia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament falling in straight sets.
- Twelve members of the Cadet roster return from last year's NCAA Tournament team with the addition of four newcomers.
- Returning to the court is All-SoCon Preseason pick in outside hitter Ali Ruffin. Ruffin was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and a member of the SoCon All-Tournament team having logged 291 kills (2.97 k/s), 276 digs (2.82 d/s) and 28 aces (0.29 s/a). Altogether she collected 16 double-digit kills and 10 double-doubles.
- Also back is setter Belle Hogan who put up 921 assists (9.69 a/s) and top blocker Gina Delancey with 92 total rejections (0.98 b/s).
| SCOUTING COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON |
- The host Cougars finished last year at 16-12 overall and 9-7 in Colonial Athletic Association action under the guidance of 16th-year head coach Jason Kepter. After placing fourth a year ago, the squad was picked third in this year's CAA Preseason Poll.
- College of Charleston brings back 13 members of last year's team and introduces five newcomers.
- Outside hitter Lexi Wierzbicki was an All-CAA Preseason selection after earning First Team All-CAA honors last fall behind a team-leading 339 kills (3.03 k/s).
- The Cougars also return setter Emma Appleman, who totaled 544 helpers (5.73 a/s) along with middle blocker Claire Campbell, who led the way with 117 total blocks (1.04 b/s).
| UP NEXT |
- Nonconference road action continues next week at the Towson Invitational in Maryland. The Scarlet Knights face Radford, Morgan State and host Towson.
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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