Friday, September 23
Piscataway, N.J.
6:00 PM (ET)
Rutgers University
vs
Michigan
Photo by: Cos Lymperopoulos
Volleyball Opens B1G Slate With Michigan Friday on BTN & Michigan State on Sunday
Sep 21 | Women's Volleyball
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers volleyball team opens its Big Ten schedule this week with a pair of home games at Jersey Mike's Arena.
The Scarlet Knights welcome Michigan on Friday at 6 p.m. for a RED OUT in front of a national audience on BTN with Chris Vosters and Emily Ehman on the call. The first 100 fans to enter Jersey Mike's Arena will receive a free RED Rutgers t-shirt. Additionally, junior Scarlet Knights (age 12 & under) can enjoy pre-game inflatables in the hospitality corner.
On Sunday, Rutgers hosts Michigan State at 1 p.m. with the game streamed on Big Ten Plus with Pat Boyle and Sam Graver calling all the action.
Admission to all Rutgers volleyball games is free with parking registration.
The Scarlet Knights welcome Michigan on Friday at 6 p.m. for a RED OUT in front of a national audience on BTN with Chris Vosters and Emily Ehman on the call. The first 100 fans to enter Jersey Mike's Arena will receive a free RED Rutgers t-shirt. Additionally, junior Scarlet Knights (age 12 & under) can enjoy pre-game inflatables in the hospitality corner.
On Sunday, Rutgers hosts Michigan State at 1 p.m. with the game streamed on Big Ten Plus with Pat Boyle and Sam Graver calling all the action.
Admission to all Rutgers volleyball games is free with parking registration.
| GAME DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Jersey Mike's Arena |
| Admission: | Free |
| Parking: | Register Vehicle |
| Game Notes: | Rutgers | Michigan | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Michigan | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| TV: | Friday vs. Michigan: BTN (Chris Vosters & Emily Ehman) |
| Video: | Sunday vs. Michigan State: Big Ten Plus (Pat Boyle & Sam Graver) |
| Live Stats: | Michigan | Michigan State |
| Social Media: | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
| FAN INFORMATION |
- Admission is free to all home games.
- Fans must register for parking here.
- Proof of full vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of the event will be required for entry to all indoor events (for all individuals above the age of five).
| GIVEAWAYS |
- RED OUT Jersey Mike's Arena. The first 100 fans will receive a free RED Rutgers t-shirt.
- Junior Scarlet Knights (age 12 & under) can enjoy pre-game inflatables in the hospitality corner.
| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers enters Big Ten play at 6-6 overall after going 1-2 at last weekend's Rutgers Volleyball Tournament. The host Scarlet Knights swept FDU, 3-0, but dropped straight-set matches to FIU and Princeton.
- Redshirt freshman Alyssa Kinkela was named to the all-tournament squad, her second tournament team selection of the season. She averaged 3.33 kills per set and swung .316 over the course of the weekend's three games. Kinkela also came up with six blocks. She had a tournament-high 13 kills against the Tigers on Sunday hitting a career-best .414. She also served up a pair of aces along with three blocks against FDU. Kinkela continues to lead the offense overall at 3.34 k/s.
- Assisting the offense has been redshirt junior Lauren DeLo. DeLo, who is fifth in the rally era averaging 6.06 a/s over her career, is putting up 7.58 helpers per set and averaged 10.67 assists last weekend.
- Junior middle Kristina Grkovic, meanwhile, leads the squad with 16 aces, including a career-high five in RU's victory over FDU. Grkovic is also third on the team in kills at 2.44 k/s. On defense, she has racked up a team-leading 49 blocks, coming up with 1.20 b/s. In RU's win over FDU, the junior swung. 692 with 10 kills on 13 swings with only one error and added five blocks.
- Sophomore Lucy Malone checks in averaging 3.30 d/s. Among her stats this season was a career-high tying 22 digs against Radford at the Towson Invitational. Junior Madyson Chitty is averaging 3.59 d/s this season and is fourth in the rally era with 3.13 d/s over her career.
| 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.
| SCOUTING MICHIGAN |
- The Wolverines also start conference play on Friday ending nonconference action at 9-1 overall. Michigan earned a 3-0 win over Mississippi State and 3-0 victory against Bowling Green at last weekend's Michigan State. The Wolverines lone loss was a 3-1 setback at Duke back on Sept. 9.
- Michigan is led by Jess Mruzik at 3.75 k/s and Jess Robinson at 2.74 k/s. Robinson leads the Big Ten swinging .534, while Mruzik is sixth in kills per set. Assisting the offense is Maddie Dowd at 8.29 a/s. Hannah Grant, meanwhile, leads the conference with 23 aces.
- Grant also leads her squad with 3.66 d/s and ranks ninth in the category in the conference. May Pertofsky is averaging a team-best 1.17 b/s with Jacque Boney also putting up 1.12 b/s at the net.
| SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE |
- The Spartans are 9-2 on the year and will open up Big Ten play on Friday night at No. 3 Nebraska. Last weekend, Michigan State went 3-0 with 3-0 wins over Oakland and Evansville and a 3-1 victory against Chicago State at its own Green & White Classic. Both losses on the year were against ACC competition in road contests at North Carolina and Duke.
- Aliyah Moore leads the Spartan attack at 2.84 k/s followed by Evie Doezema at 2.65 k/s. Zoe Nunez directs the offense at 8.62 a/s and leads at the service line with 16 aces, ranking 10th in the Big Ten in both categories
- On defense, Michigan State is led by Nalani Iosia at 4.00 d/s, coming in fifth in the league, and Emma Monks with 36 total blocks averaging 1.06 per frame.
| UP NEXT |
- The Scarlet Knights will host No. 3 Nebraska on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7:00 p.m. and go on the road for the first time in Big Ten play this season heading to West Lafayette, Indiana to meet up with No. 11 Purdue on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.
- Admission is free to all home games with parking registration.
- RU -
Players Mentioned
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