PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball kicked off its final home weekend taking the opening set against Northwestern, but the Wildcats came back to take the next three sets for the 3-1 win on Friday night at the College Ave Gym.

The Scarlet Knights opened with a 25-23 victory but were topped 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16 in the following sets.

Northwestern improved to 13-14 overall and 7-10 in the Big Ten. Rutgers dropped to 10-17 overall and 2-15 in the league.

• Rutgers landed two Scarlet Knights in double-figure kills led by Alissa Kinkela with 12 and Taylor Humphrey collecting 10.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar, who is looking to crack the 3,000 assist mark in the last remaining games, put up 31 helpers and was just shy of a double-double with eight sets.
• Senior Madyson Chitty led the RU defense with 16 digs.
• Fellow senior Kristina Grkovic totaled five blocks and moved into a tie for second in the rally era season solo blocks leaders list. Grkovic has made 18 solo stops this season and needs one more to tie Rachel Andressian (2013) as the rally era season solo blocks leader.
• Freshman Georgia Lee collected her first collegiate ace on Friday night and ended the evening leading all players at the service line with a trio of aces.

• Set 1 (25-23) | After six ties, Zora Hardison sent a Northwestern attack right back to the Wildcats giving RU the lead for good at 18-17. Hardison's kill was amid a 7-2 Scarlet Knight run that gave control of the opening frame. While Northwestern hit at a .357 clip, Rutgers hit .368 as a team with Kristina Grkovic and Taylor Humphrey both collecting a set-high five kills. Humphrey notched points on five of her six swings while Grkovic was successful on five of eight attacks.

• Set 2 (19-25) | Rutgers was able to whittle down a double-digit deficit with a late surge. The Wildcats had their largest lead at 21-10, but the Scarlet Knights went on a 9-3 run to trail by five thwarting set point four times. Northwestern hit .341 with a match-low two attack errors in the frame, while Alissa Kinkela contributed four kills for the Scarlet Knights. Georgia Lee registered her first career ace. Madyson Chitty came up with eight digs for the Scarlet Knight defense

• Set 3 (17-25) | The Scarlet Knights played out to an 11-8 edge, but the Wildcats went in front in responding with a 7-2 run and limiting RU to six points the rest of the way. Kristina Grkovic moved into second in rally era season blocks early in the fame. Taylor Humphrey, Anna Hartman and Alissa Kinkela each had a trio of kills. Northwestern hit a match-best .368.

• Set 4 (16-25) | Northwestern scored the first four points and never trailed. Rutgers did pull within a point on blocks by Anna Hartman, Kristina Grkovic and Alissa Kinkela at 7-6. The Wildcats, however, went on a 9-3 run capped by five consecutive points to pull ahead 16-9. Zora Hardison helped fuel three consecutive points off a block and kill as RU narrowed the gap to 16-12, but Northwestern outscored RU 9-4 down the stretch. Taylor Humphrey and Hardison added two kills to their stat lines while Grkovic notched a trio of blocks.

• Rutgers volleyball plays its final home game of the 2023 season against Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the College Ave Gym. Admission is free.
• The Scarlet Knight seniors - Madyson Chitty, Kristina Gkrovic, Chelsea Harvey and Alyssa Nayar - will be honored on the court following the match with the Spartans.
• Next week, Rutgers closes out the season on the road at Maryland on Friday, Nov. 24 and at Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 25.