COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rutgers volleyball closed out the 2023 season taking the opening frame from host Ohio State, but the Buckeyes claimed the next three sets for the 3-1 win at the Covelli Center on Saturday night.
RU claimed a 25-23 win in set one, dropped the second set 25-16, battled through 10 ties in set three in a 25-21 setback and had a late fourth set surge fall short in a 25-21 loss.
Rutgers added more entries to the record book with senior middle Kristina Grkovic landing in the all-time top ten in career blocks, classmate Madyson Chitty cracking the rally-era career aces list and redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela moving into the top 10 in career kills.
- Redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela was just short of a double-double with a team-leading 14 kills and nine digs. Her
- Senior Kristina Grkovic moved into all-time top 10 career blocks with three stops to become the 10th Scarlet Knight in program history with over 300 stops during their time "On The Banks". Grkovic also added 12 kills.
- Senior Madyson Chitty posted 17 digs while her ace, one of six by the Scarlet Knights, moved into the rally-era career top 10.
- Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar notched 40 helpers and eight digs.
- Freshman Zora Hardison led RU at the net with five total stops.
- Set 1 (25-23) | Both squads hit over .300 and changed leads three times before Rutgers went up 1-0 closing with five straight points. The match kicked off with the Scarlet Knights going out to a 12-5 lead and the RU also holding a seven-point advantage at 14-7. After a Taylor Humphrey kill put RU ahead 16-11, Ohio State went on a 9-2 run capped by six straight to take over the lead with a 20-18 edge. The two sides traded the next six points until a pair of Buckeye miscues and a swing and block from Alissa Kinkela sealed it for the Scarlet Knights. Kinkela and Humphrey both logged four points with only one attack error between the two in 18 total attempts.
- Set 2 (16-25) | RU opened with an 8-4 advantage, but a 4-1 Ohio State run pulled the hosts to within one. The Scarlet Knights responded with three straight with a pair of blocks from Kristina Grkovic and an ace from Kinkela. A solo stop from Grkovic continued to have RU up by four at 14-10, however, Ohio State rattled off nine unanswered to go ahead 19-14 and stay in front. Alissa Kinkela continued to hit well swining at a .667 clips with five kills on six swings with one error.
- Set 3 (21-25) | Rutgers took another early lead, this time with a 7-3 start. The Buckeyes collected the next four points for the first of eight ties from that point forward. A Taylor Humphrey attack knotted the frame up at 17-17 when OSU responded with the next five points and remained in front. Kristina Grkovic led the attack with four kills.
- Set 4 (21-25) | The Scarlet Knights registered five unanswered points to pull ahead 12-6. The Buckeyes used a 14-2 surge to claim a 20-14 lead. Rutgers, however, battled back with a 6-2 run that saw the Scarlet Knights trail by two at 22-20. RU thwarted set point twice but the frame went to the Buckeyes. Grkovic added another four kills.
ALL-TIME CAREER RECORDS - Individual
RALLY-ERA CAREER RECORDS - Individual
- Madyson Chitty
- No. 3 - Digs (1294)
- No. 4 - Digs Per Set (2.23)
- No. 6 - Sets Played (401)
- No. 10 - Aces (58)
- Kristina Grkovic
- No. 1 - Block Solo (43)
- No. 4 - Attack Pct. (.277)
- No. 4 - Block Assist (258)
- No. 4 - Total Blocks (301)
- No. 7 - Aces (72)
- No. 7 - Points (942.0)
- No. 9 - Kills (690)
- No. 9 - Blocks Per Set (0.86)
- Chelsea Harvey
- No. 7 - Assists Per Set (5.81)
- Taylor Humphrey
- No. 7 - Kills Per Set (2.38)
- Alissa Kinkela
- No. 4 - Kills Per Set (2.82)
- No. 10 - Kills (655)
- No. 10 - Attack Pct. (.224)
- No. 10 - Points (771.5)
- Alyssa Nayar
- No. 3 - Assists Per Set (6.64)
- No. 5 - Assists (1235)
- Rikki Williams
- No. 4 - Blocks Per Set (1.00)
ALL-TIME SEASON RECORDS - Individual
RALLY-ERA SEASON RECORDS - Individual
- Madyson Chitty
- No. 4 - Digs (414)
- No. 5 - Digs Per Set (3.60)
- Kristina Grkovic
- No. 1 - Block Solo (21)
- No. 3 - Attack Pct. (.329)
- No. 6 - Block Assist (113)
- No. 9 - Points (350.0)
- Alissa Kinkela
- No. 4 - Kills (344)
- No. 4 - Points (414.0)
- No. 9 - Aces (29)
- Alyssa Nayar
- No. 5 - Assists (956)
- No. 6 - Assists Per Set (8.85)
- Rikki Williams
- No. 10 - Blocks Per Set (1.00)
BIG TEN SEASON RECORDS - Individual
- Madyson Chitty
- No. 1 - Sets Played (77)
- No. 1 - Digs (285)
- No. 5 - Digs Per Set (3.70)
- Kenzie Dyrstad
- Kristina Grkovic
- No. 1 - Sets Played (77)
- No. 1 - Block Solo (14)
- No. 1 - Total Blocks (71)
- No. 2 - Block Assist (57)
- No. 3 - Points (220.5)
- No. 4 - Attack Pct. (.308)
- No. 4 - Aces (18)
- No. 6 - Kills (169)
- No. 10 - Blocks Per Set (0.92)
- Zora Hardison
- Taylor Humphrey
- No. 1 - Sets Played (77)
- No. 6 - Points (202.0)
- No. 8 - Kills Per Set (2.40)
- Alissa Kinkela
- No. 1 - Sets Played (77)
- No. 1 - Kills (226)
- No. 1 - Points (268.0)
- No. 2 - Kills Per Set (2.94)
- Alyssa Nayar
- No. 1 - Assists (668)
- No. 2 - Assists Per Set (8.91)
- No. 6 - Sets Played (75)
- No. 8 - Digs (189)
- Bekah Williams
- Rikki Williams
- No. 5 - Blocks Per Set (1.00)
RALLY-ERA SEASON RECORDS - TEAM
- #2 - Block Solo (57)
- #4 - Sets Played (115)
- #4 - Kills (1328)
- #5 - Kills Per Set (11.55)
- #5 - Assists (1240)
- #5 - Digs (1493)
- #5 - Total Blocks (237.5)
- #6 - Aces (136)
- #6 - Blocks Per Set (2.07)
- #7 - Attack Attempts (3724)
- #7 - Block Assists (361)
- #8 - Digs Per Set (12.98)
- #9 - Aces Per Set (1.18)
BIG TEN SEASON RECORDS - TEAM
- #1 - Sets Played (77)
- #1 - Kills (858)
- #1 - Assists (815)
- #1 - Assists Per Set (10.58)
- #1 - Digs (978)
- #1 - Block Solo (39)
- #2 - Kills Per Set (11.41)
- #2 - Aces (74)
- #2 - Total Blocks (149.0)
- #3 - Digs Per St (12.70)
- #2 - Attack Pct. (.181)
- #5 - Block Assists (220)
- #6 - Blocks Per Set (1.94)
SEASON NOTABLES
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