PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball is back home at Jersey Mike's Arena to host Indiana on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 pm. and No. 1 Nebraska on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.
 

GAME DAY INFO

 

Venue:	Jersey Mike's Arena | Piscataway, N.J.
Admission:	Free | Doors Open One Hour Prior To Game Time
Parking:	Click here to register
Game Notes:	Rutgers | Indiana | Nebraska
Statistics:	Rutgers | Indiana | Nebraska
Video:	BTN +
Live Stats:	Statbroadcast.com
Social Media:	Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

    

PROMOTIONS

• Friday vs. Indiana – POST MATCH MEET & GREET – Join members of the Scarlet Knights on the court for a post-match meet & greet.    
• Sunday vs. Nebraska – RED OUT -  Wear Red in support of your Scarlet Knights. Rutgers t-shirts at the door while supplies last. Post-match autographs on the concourse.

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

• The Scarlet Knights are back home after playing five of its last six games on the road.
• Last week, Rutgers captured a 3-2 victory at Iowa for the 10^th win of the season marking double-digits victories for the program for the first time since 2012 and fell 3-0 in the first meeting with top-ranked Nebraska in Lincoln.
• Against the Hawkeyes, Rutgers had four in double-figure kills, five in double-figure digs and two with double-doubles. Alissa Kinkela led the attack with 19 kills, while Alyssa Nayar had a career-high 58 assists and Madyson Chitty dug up the ball a career-high 28 times. RU had the most kills (72), assists (70) and digs (96) in a Big Ten match since joining the league in 2014.
• In the first meeting with the Cornhuskers, the Scarlet Knights played in front of  8,692 people with Kinkela and Kristina Grkovic leading with eight kills each.
• Redshirt sophomore right-side Alissa Kinkela leads the offense with 3.10 k/s and is currently third in the rally-era career kills per set at 2.85 behind Caitlin Saxton's 3.13 k/s (2008-10) and Sarah Schmid's 3.18 k/s (2012). On Friday, Kinkela collected her fifth double-double of the year behind a season-high 19 kills and 11 digs.
• Senior middle Kristina Grkovic is adding 2.20 k/s hitting a team-best .340 along with a team-leading 21 aces, which included a career-high tying five against N.C. State. She is among the Rutgers rally-era top 10 leaders in kills, aces, total blocks, solo blocks, block assists and points.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar is on the set averaging 8.79 helpers per set, ranking ninth in the Big Ten, and is second on the team with 2.78 d/s. She also leads the Scarlet Knights with nine double-doubles on the season currently fifth on the RU season leaders list. 
• Senior libero Madyson Chitty is currently logging 3.60 d/s, ranking ninth in the Big Ten. The Lewis Center, Ohio native became the 10th Scarlet Knight in history to reach the 1,000 career digs when RU closed nonconference play against Princeton and is currently sixth all-time and fourth in the rally era at Rutgers.

SCOUTING INDIANA

• The Hoosiers are 16-9 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten play coming off five-set loss on the road with Illinois and Northwestern last week.
• Offensively, Indiana is led by sophomore outside Candela Alonso-Corcelles at 2.56 k/s and graduate student middle blocker Kaley Rammelsberg at 2.53 k/s. They are aided by junior setter Camryn Haworth at 9.82 a/s, third in the Big Ten, and a nation-leading 58 aces.
• Rammelsberg also leads the Hoosiers at the net with 79 total blocks closely followed by senior middle Savannah Kjolhede at 76 stops. Freshman libero Ramsey Gary leads the squad and Big Ten at 4.40 d/s.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA

• Nebraska, who has received 63 of 64 first-place votes for the second-straight week in this week's top 25, is undefeated at 21-0 and 12-0 in Big Ten action. The Cornhuskers will play at No. 16 Penn State on Friday before meeting the Scarlet Knights.
• In Big Ten stats, the Cornhuskers as a team are lead the league in kills (12.95) and second in assists (12.96) per set while holding opponents to just .125 hitting.
• Offensively, Nebraska is led by junior outside Merritt Beason at 3.64 k/s and 21 aces followed by freshman outside Harper Murray at 3.37 k/s. The duo ranks eighth and ninth respectively in the Big Ten in kills per set. Setting up the attack is freshman Bergen Riley who is putting up a league-leading 10.52 a/s. 
• The Cornhuskers are led on defense by freshman middle Andi Jackson with 82 and sophomore middle Bekka Allick with 78 total blocks. Allick is fourth in the Big Ten in blocking averaging 1.30 per frame, while Jackson is eighth at 1.17 per set. Senior Lexi Rodriguez, meanwhile, is collecting 3.55 d/s.

RUTGERS ON THE RISE

• In Caitlin Schweihofer's first season, played in the spring of 2021 due to Covid-19, the Scarlet Knights tripled its conference win total en route to capturing numerous program firsts. Among the team's first were its first-ever All-Big Ten honoree and Big Ten series sweeps. The Scarlet Knights won their first-ever Big Ten home opener, earned victories over Indiana and Michigan State for the first time in history, captured two series sweeps against Maryland and Michigan State, picked up set victories against No. 4 Nebraska and No. 10 Purdue and pushed No. 19 Ohio State to five sets and match point. RU established new team, season and match records for aces and reset program Big Ten game bests in kills, attempts, attack percentage and assists, as well as individual conference superlatives in attack percentage, assists and digs.
• Returning to fall ball for the 2021 season only three and a half months after the conclusion of the Big Ten-only 2020 season, Rutgers continued to make strides going 8-3 for its best nonconference record since 2012. During the season the Scarlet Knights battled eight Top 25 teams during Big Ten play, a conference that sent eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, including the year's national champion. Rutgers captured set wins over No. 8 Purdue and No. 15 Penn State and took Illinois to five sets in front of a national audience on BTN. Inna Balyko wrapped up her career fifth all-time in assists and ninth all-time in block assists, while Kamila Cieslik became the rally era leader in matches played (132) and Beka Kojadinovic concluded her career as the rally era leader in aces.
• Last season, Rutgers incorporated eight newcomers into the mix continuing to make notable strides. The Scarlet Knights opened the year at 3-0 for the first time since 1998 and battled eight Top 25 teams during Big Ten play and eight teams that advanced to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. During the nonconference schedule, four Scarlet Knights were named to All-Tournament squads. Altogether Rutgers had 11 entries among the rally-era season leaders list including Kristina Grkovic in aces, Madyson Chitty in digs, Alyssa Nayar in assists per set, and Taylor Humphrey and Alissa Kinkela in kills per set.
• RU played to an 8-2 out-of-conference mark in 2023 making it the program's best nonconference record since the 2012 season. Among the nonconference highlights include a 3-1 win at Rider that gave head coach Caitlin Schweihofer her 100th career win, a 3-1 victory at Columbia with redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela capturing the fifth-best hitting percentage in a match in school history and senior Madyson Chitty becoming the 10th Scarlet Knight in history to reach 1,000 career digs in a five-set match with Princeton. During the Big Ten season, the Scarlet Knights earned its first-ever top 25 victory with a 3-1 win over No. 16 Minnesota with Alyssa Nayar earning Big Ten Setter of the Week. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights collected their first-ever set victory at Huff Hall against Illinois and went to five sets against the Fighting Illini for the second time in the series history at Jersey Mike's Arena.

UP NEXT

• Rutgers volleyball has a split weekend traveling to Indiana on Friday, Nov. 10 to close out the season series and returns home to the College Ave Gym to host Michigan on Sunday, Nov. 12.

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