PISCATAWAY, N.J. – It was a come-from-behind thriller at Jersey Mike's Arena on Sunday afternoon as the Rutgers volleyball team earned its first Big Ten win of the season climbing back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Michigan State in five.

After dropping the first two sets to the Spartans 25-17 and 27-25, the Scarlet Knights powered back behind 25-13, 25-20 and 15-7 set victories.
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Freshman Taylor Humphrey had her second Scarlet Knight double-double collecting 14 kills and 11 digs. Junior Kristina Grkovic joined her with double-figure kills with 11.
• Also on the offense, redshirt junior Lauren DeLo added 39 assists while Humphrey and freshman Bekah William each served up two aces each.
• Graduate student Megan Vernon came up with two solo blocks and nine block assists for a career-high 11 total rejections. DeLo also had a career time at the net with eight total blocks.
• Madyson Chitty added 20 digs in the victory.
• In all three Rutgers set wins, Michigan State was in negative attack percentage range.  

KEY MOMENTS

• SET 1 (17-25) | The visiting Spartans used a few runs to go up 1-0. Michigan State pulled out to a 5-2 lead and after Rutgers knotted the score at 6-6, the Spartans then used a 6-0 run for a 12-6 advantage to remain in front. A solo block by Kristina Grkovic helped narrow the deficit to 13-10, but Michigan State added four unanswered for a 17-10 edge. Swings by Grkovic, one of her three in the set, and Megan Vernon saw the Scarlet Knights trail by five at 17-12 and 20-15. The Spartans, however, closed out the opening stanza 5-2 run.
• SET 2 (25-27) | A seven-point Spartan lead was erased midway through set two. Michigan State was up 16-9 when RU went on a 7-1 burst fueled by a Taylor Humphrey kill and ace, two kills from the hands of Vernon and a block and kill from Alissa Kinkela. The run saw the Scarlet Knights trail 17-16. Michigan State was holding on to a 21-18 advantage when Rutgers outscored the visitors 4-1 for the first of five ties down the stretch. The Scarlet Knights found themselves at set point up 24-23, but an error and kill from Maradith O'Gorman gave the Spartans their first look at set point. Bekah Williams, however, kept the frame going out of an RU timeout tying the set at 25-25 on a swing before kills by MSU's Nil Okur and Aliyah Moore put the Spartans up 2-0.
• SET 3 (25-13) | Rutgers parlayed its second set momentum into its best hitting percentage of the afternoon swinging at a .333 clip, committing only one attack error and never trailing.  The Scarlet Knights opened leading 8-4 and ended the set outscoring the Spartans 10-3. Vernon registered three kills on eight swings to hit .375 and also added a pair of blocks. Meanwhile, Lauren DeLo helped RU to points on 10 of RU's 11 kills.
• SET 4 (25-20) | The Scarlet Knights lasted through 12 ties and six lead changes to come out on top and force a fifth and deciding set. Michigan State muscled out to a 14-10 edge behind a 6-1 run, however, Rutgers punched back with its own 6-1 run trail 16-15. From there it was four ties and two lead changes until Humphrey started a final Rutgers run putting the Scarlet Knights up for good at 20-19. Humphrey had a pair of kills and DeLo served up an ace during a set closing 6-1 Scarlet Knight run. Humphrey ended the frame with six kills while Megan Vernon came up with a trio of blocks.
• SET 5 (15-7) | After a Spartan service error knotted the set at 4-4, it was it all Scarlet Knights. The error began a 12-3 run for the Scarlet Knights for the match. Vernon, who joined the Rutgers rally-era season solo blocks top 10 list last week, gave RU the match on a solo rejection.

KNIGHT NOTES

• It was the second time under head coach Caitlin Schweihofer that the Scarlet Knights have 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.
• Megan Vernon recorded a pair of solo blocks against the Spartans for 12 on the season. She moved up to fifth on the single-season rally-era leaders list. She needs two more to surpass Hannah Curtis (2011) for fourth on the list.
• Vernon's 11 blocks were a new-career high surpassing her previous high of eight set on four occasions, most recently at Loyola (Chicago) on Sept. 10
• DeLo's eight blocks were also a new-career mark topping her previous high of four set against Kansas State on Sept. 9 and Loyola (Chicago) on Sept. 10. 
• After cracking the rally-era career dig top 10 against Michigan on Friday night, Madyson Chitty moved up another spot to ninth. Her 20 digs against the Spartans brought her career total to 721 moving past Caitlin Saxton (2008-10). She needs 23 more digs for eighth on the list to pass Alex Lassa (2012-15).

UP NEXT

• Next week, Rutgers volleyball will play host to No. 3 Nebraska at Jersey Mike's Arena on Friday, September 30 at 7 p.m. and be on the road for the first time in Big Ten play No. 11 Purdue on Sunday, Oct 2 at 1 p.m.
• Admission to all home games at Jersey Mike's Arena is free.
• Parking for all home games is free with registration.
• Friday night against the Cornhuskers will be Special Olympics Night. Cheer on members of NJ Special Olympics as they participate in the high five tunnel during introductions and play a set during intermission. 

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