TOWSON, Md. – Rutgers volleyball split its final day at the Towson Invitational on Saturday at SECU Arena.

The Scarlet Knights had its second sweep of the season in the afternoon contest taking down Morgan State 25-18, 25-15, 24-15.

Against host and three-time Colonial Athletic Association champion Towson in the nightcap, Rutgers pushed the Tigers to five sets. The Scarlet Knights, however, dropped the match 18-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 11-15.

Rutgers 3, Morgan State 0
 

STANDOUT STATS

• The Scarlet Knights captured its second sweep of the 2022 campaign.
• Rutgers limited the Bears to hitting .077 over the three sets, while the Scarlet Knights swung a season-best .310. On the attack, the Scarlet Knights held a 37-25 advantage in kills and totaled eight service aces compared to one from Radford.
• Junior Kristina Grkovic hit .625 with 11 kills on 16 attempts with only one attack error. It marked the first time Grkovic has led RU in kills during her career. She also served up three aces and led the defense with four blocks.
• Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkella also added 11 kills while freshman Bekah Williams also served up a trio of aces.
• Redshirt junior Lauren DeLo posted 19 assists while Alyssa Nayar dished out 10.
• Sophomore Lucy Malone collected 12 digs.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (25-18) | A trio of kills by Kristina Grkovic during a 7-3 spurt gave Rutgers command of the opening frame at 13-9. The Bears pulled within 17-15, but the Scarlet Knights outscored the opposition 8-3 down the stretch. Grkovic and Alissa Kinkella each had four kills, while Bekah Williams added a pair of aces.
• Set 2 (25-15) | An 8-3 run gave Rutgers a 10-7 edge and control of the second set. While the Bears pulled within two points on the next service, the Scarlet Knights proceeded to rattle off a 9-1 run capped by back-to-back aces from Grkovic putting RU ahead 19-9.
• Set 3 (25-14) | Rutgers hit a match-best .367 while keeping Morgan State to a match-low .057. Grkovic added another five kills and hit .714 for the set.  The Scarlet Knights never trailed opening the stanza with a 6-3 lead. RU was out in front by as many as seven points before the match concluded with RU collecting the final five points for the final margin.

Towson 3, Rutgers 2
 

STANDOUT STATS

• The Scarlet Knights took on its second NCAA squad in the three-time CAA Champion Tigers dropping to 1-1 against the 2021 field.
• RU went to five sets for the third time this season falling to 1-2 in five-set contests.
• Redshirt freshman Alissa Kinkela reset her career-high with 18 kills while adding four blocks. Her previous high was 17 in a five-set victory over The Citadel last weekend.
• Senior Alyssa Nayar captured her second double-double of the year and 18th of her career with 13 digs and 20 assists.
• Nayar was one of three Scarlet Knights to finish with double-figure digs led by sophomore Lucy Malone with 16.
• Freshman Taylor Humphrey was just shy of her first career double-double with nine kills and 13 digs.
• Junior Kristina Grkovic led the defense with five blocks while also adding six digs and seven kills.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (18-25) | Towson limited the Rutgers attack coming up with nine blocks to help force 11 Scarlet Knight attack errors. The Tigers went on a 7-1 run to go in front at 16-9. Rutgers cut its deficit late with four unanswered to narrow the gap to 22-18 which included an Alissa Kinkela kill and block. The Tigers, however, captured the next three points to go up 1-0.
• Set 2 (25-22) | The second frame saw 11 ties before Rutgers finally took control. After the Tigers took a 19-18 edge, the Scarlet Knights directed a 6-1 run behind two Kinkela kills, a swing by Taylor Humphrey and a solo block by Lauren DeLo. Kinkela finished the frame with seven kills.
• Set 3 (20-25) | The Tigers used a 7-2 run to take a 7-11 lead and extended its advantage to as many as six.  The Scarlet Knight did manage to close the gap at 22-19 thanks in part to a pair of Humphrey kills. Humphrey and classmate Sasha Stotler had a trio of kills each to lead Rutgers.
• Set 4 (25-20) | Tied at 7-7, Rutgers outscored Towson 5-1 capped by a Kristina Grkovic ace for an 11-8 edge. While the Tigers battled back to knot the score at 14-14, RU would not relinquish the lead. A 7-2 run, which concluded with back-to-back blocks by Kinkela and Grkovic, helped up the Scarlet Knight advantage to 21-16. Kinkela posted an additional six kills as Rutgers had its best hitting performance of the night in the fourth frame.
• Set 5 (11-15) | The squads switched sides with Rutgers ahead 8-7, but the hosts would pull out the victory closing out the match with six unanswered points with the Tiger defense capturing a trio of points off blocks.

UP NEXT

• Rutgers volleyball returns to action at the Rambler Challenge in Chicago Illinois on Sept. 9-10. The Scarlet Knights will meet Kansas State, St. Thomas and host Loyola (Chicago).

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