CHICAGO, Ill. – The Rutgers volleyball team split its opening day at the Rambler Challenge hosted by Loyola Chicago on Friday.

The Scarlet Knights were in each set in the opener against Kansas State but fell 26-28, 19-25, 25-22. Later in the evening, however, Rutgers bounced back with a sweep of its own topping St. Thomas 26-24, 25-22, 26-24.

Kansas State 3, Rutgers 0
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Freshman Taylor Humphrey was tied for a match-high 13 kills and added eight digs.
• Lauren DeLo led RU with 22 assists.
• On defense, junior Kristina Grkovic collected a match-high seven blocks, while sophomore Lucy Malone posted 10 digs.

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (26-28) | Rutgers had a chance to take the opening frame at set point ahead 26-25, but Kansas State came back with the next three points to go up 1-0. The Wildcats took their largest lead at 21-18 when the Scarlet Knights went on to outscore the opposition 8-4 and thwart two set point opportunities. A service error by Kansas State and blocks from the hands of Kristina Grkovic and Taylor Humphrey gave Rutgers a chance to close out the first frame with RU up 26-25. The Wildcats, however, notched the next three points for the win. Humphrey led with six kills while Grkovic and Lauren DeLo teamed up for seven blocks.
• Set 2  (19-25) | The Scarlet Knights overcame a five-point deficit to narrow the gap down to a pair of points at 18-16 and 20-18, both times on swings by Alissa Kinkela. The Wildcats, however, outscored the Scarlet Knights 5-1 down the stretch. Humphrey and Kinkela each had four kills in the set.
• Set 3 (22-25) | A 4-1 Rutgers run gave the Scarlet Knights a 14-13 edge, however, the Wildcats used a run of their own to regain the lead. While the frame was tied four more times, Kansas State went on a 6-2 burst to stay in front.  The Scarlet Knights battled back to knot the score at 21-21 behind a swing from Kinkela along with a block by the redshirt freshman and Grkovic. Kansas State kept Rutgers at bay closing the match outscoring RU, 4-1, to take the win. Humphrey and Grkovic collected a trio of kills.

Rutgers 3, St. Thomas 0
 

STANDOUT STATS

• A pair of Scarlet Knights captured double-figure kills led by career-high 13 kills from graduate student Megan Vernon. Vernon finished out the night hitting .620 on her 20 attacks with no errors. Redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela added 10 kills.
• Assisting the offense was redshirt junior Lauren DeLo with 20 helpers.
• Junior Madyson Chitty collected 13 digs for the defense, while junior Kristina Grkovic was once again the leader at the net with five blocks.
   

KEY MOMENTS

• Set 1 (26-24) | Rutgers was the first to 20 as back-to-back kills from Megan Vernon gave the Scarlet Knights a 21-18 edge. St. Thomas, however, outscored RU 5-2 to knot the score up at 23-23. Each squad captured kills to keep the score tied, but it was successful swings from Kristina Grkovic and Alissa Kinkela that gave the Scarlet Knights the win. Vernon and Kinkella posted four kills apiece.
• Set 2 (25-22) | The Tommies were ahead 15-11 when the Scarlet Knights got four-in-a-row to tie the second set up at 15 all. Six ties later, the score was even at 21-21, but RU would finish the stanza out outscoring St. Thomas, 5-1. Vernon was responsible for a pair of kills during the strong final push while a swing from Sasha Stotler put the Scarlet Knights up 2-0 in the match. Rutgers hit .412 and committed only two attack errors as a team. Vernon continued her hot hitting with four points on five attempts.
• Set 3 (26-24) | The Scarlet Knights were trailing 23-19 before another late surge gave RU not only the set but the sweep. Rutgers closed on a 7-2 run fueled by a pair of Vernon kills and pair of Grkovic blocks. Four unanswered points tied the set up at 23-23 and the Tommies took the next point. The Scarlet Knights, however, came up with the next three points for the victory with Grkovic and Bekah Williams rejections for match point. Vernon posted points on five of her nine swings to hit .556 in the final frame.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Megan Vernon set a new career mark in kills with her 13 against the Tommies. It surpasses her previous high of eight against Ohio on Sept. 20, 2019 while at Kansas State. Vernon's .620 hitting percentage ranks sixth in the single-game rally era record book.
• Madyson Chitty totaled 18 digs in the games with Kansas State and St. Thomas. She is now 25 digs away from cracking the rally era top 10 in career digs and 26 digs away from becoming the 10th Scarlet Knight to surpass the 700-career dig mark.

UP NEXT

• The Rutgers volleyball team closes out the Rambler Challenge on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against host Loyola Chicago. The game will be streamed by ESPN+.

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