CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --  It was another first for Rutgers volleyball taking a set at Huff Hall for the first time, but it was Illinois taking the match in four sets.

Altogether the Scarlet Knights and Fighting Illini endured 28 ties with the hosts taking a 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 25-12 win.

Rutgers dropped to 9-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten. The win improved Illinois to 8-10 overall and 3-5 in league play as they halted a three-game skid.

• Rutgers put three into double-digit kills led by sophomore Taylor Humphrey with a season-high 16 kills. Redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela dropped in 13 kills while freshman Anna Hartman contributed 10.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar posted her seventh double-double of the season and 28th of her career behind 40 assists while tying for a match-high 12 digs.
• Senior Maydson Chitty was also in double-figure digs with 10.
• Kinkela and Chitty also served up a pair of aces.
• On the block, RU was led by freshman Zora Hardison for the second-consecutive match with four total rejections.

• Set 1 (21-25) | The opening frame was tied on seven occasions with a 5-1 run by the Scarlet Knights knotting the score at 20-20.  Midway through the frame, Rutgers held a 14-12 edge when Illinois went in front behind a 6-0 run.  Alissa Kinkela, who tied with a set-high six kills, Taylor Humphrey and Anna Harman helped counter with kills during RU's 5-1 burst. Illinois, however, closed on a 5-2 run to take the set.

• Set 2 (25-17) | A 7-1 run by the visiting Scarlet Knights put RU ahead for good at 15-12. During the run, the Fighting Illini collected five errors while Taylor Humphrey complied a pair of kills. Illinois posted the next two points but RU tripled their effort with the next six including a pair of swings from Anna Hartman and back-to-back aces from Madyson Chitty. Hartman also put together three consecutive kills to get Rutgers to set point at 24-16. Hartman logged five kills in the frame, while Taylor Humphrey added four in giving the Scarlet Knights their first-ever set win at Huff Hall.

• Set 3 (23-25) | The stanza was close from start to finish with the frame enduring 15 ties with the last coming at 23-23 after a 5-2 Rutgers run. An ace gave the hosts a 21-18 lead when the Scarlet Knights took their late run. A Kristina Grkovic swing saw RU with its third-straight point to tie the score at 21-21 while a Taylor Humphrey attack brought the score at 23-23. The hosts, however, posted the next two points for the 2-1 lead. Humphrey put away five kills in the close set.

• Set 4 (12-25) | Illinois hit a match-best .429 opening the set with a 7-2 lead. Taylor Humphrey added another three kills to her stat line to lead the Scarlet Knights.
   

• Rutgers volleyball is back in action to close out the season series with Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 20 in Minneapolis and returns to Jersey Mike's Arena on Sunday, Oct. 22 to close out the season series with the Fighting Illini at 3 p.m. Admission to all Rutgers home games is free.