CHARLESTON, S.C. – Rutgers volleyball took a 2-0 edge to start and closed out the fourth set on a 10-2 run for a season-opening 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23) victory over Fresno State on the opening day of the College of Charleston Classic at TD Arena. 
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Three Scarlet Knights landed in career-high double-figure kills as they held a commanding 61-44 edge in the category. Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkela led the way with 15 kills, junior Kristina Grkovic tied her career mark with 12 kills and freshman Bekah Williams made her debut with 11 kills.
• Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo, who got the start at setter, collected a career-high 44 assists.
• Defensively, Rutgers looked to junior Madyson Chitty to come up with a career-high 24 digs, with senior Rachel Tam also hitting a career mark by posting nine digs.
• The Scarlet Knights held a 9.0-7.0 advantage in blocks led by four block assists by Grkovic and Kinkela adding a solo and three block assists.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (25-18) | Three-straight points, including back-to-back kills from freshman Taylor Humphrey, gave Rutgers a 7-4 lead and an advantage they would not lose from that point in the first set of the 2022 campaign. Humphrey would go on to lead RU with five kills in the frame helping her squad to swing .333 during the set. The Scarlet Knights pushed the margin to as many as seven which included two consecutive aces by Lauren DeLo to pull ahead 22-17. 
• Set 2 (25-20) | Fresno State opened the second set with a 10-5 lead, however, the Scarlet Knights came back with five-straight points of their own, including three kills by Kristina Grkovic during the run. The score would be knotted three more times before a pair of swings by Alissa Kinkela and an ace by Madyson Chitty put Rutgers in front for good at 17-14. Grkovic and Kinkela both had six kills in set two.
• Set 3 (22-25) | Rutgers' lone setback of the afternoon saw Fresno State control much of the stanza. Outscoring RU 8-3, the Bulldogs established a 16-12 advantage, however, errors proved costly for Fresno State allowing the Scarlet Knights to tie the set at 16-16. Another 8-3 run got Fresno State to match point and the eventual win. The Scarlet Knights did hold a 14-11 margin in kills as Bekah Williams registered six in the setback.
• Set 4 (25-23) | The Scarlet Knights were down by 21-15 but recorded four kills, four blocks and a service ace during a 10-2 run to wrap up the match. Points on swings were collected by freshman Sasha Stotler, graduate student Megan Vernon, Kinkella and Grkovic. Kinkela was responsible for a pair of blocks during the span while freshman Lexi Visintine served up her first career ace. Chitty had 10 of her 24 digs in the frame, while Kinkela came up with five kills and three blocks.

KNIGHT NOTES

• The win marks back-to-back season-opening wins for the first time since 2012-13.
• Madyson Chitty surpassed her previous career-high 23 digs set against Central Connecticut State back on Sept. 3, 2021. Her 24 digs helped move her career total to 599 and is now 100 digs away from cracking the rally-era top 10.
• Tina Grkovic tied her career-high with 12 kills. She also had 12 kills against Iowa on Feb 2, 2021, in her freshman season.
• Alissa Kinkella topped her previous high of four kills against UMBC on Aug. 28, 2021, during her injury-shorten season in her first year.
• Lauren DeLo bettered her previous assist mark of 14, which she captured twice, most recently at Michigan on Nov. 13, 2021.

UP NEXT

• Rutgers volleyball closes out the College of Charleston Classic on Saturday against The Citadel, a 2021 NCAA first-round squad, at 2 p.m. and host College of Charleston at 7 p.m.

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