PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball closes out the season series with Indiana on Friday at 7 p.m. in Bloomington and returns home for their final three home games at the College Ave Gym starting with Michigan on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 

GAME DAY INFO

 

Venue:	Wilkinson Hall - Bloomington, Ind. | College Ave Gym - New Brunswick, N.J.
Admission/Parking:	Free | Click here to register for parking
Game Notes:	Rutgers | Indiana | Michigan
Statistics:	Rutgers | Indiana | Michigan
Video:	BTN +
Live Stats:	Statbroadcast.com
Social Media:	Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

   

VENUE NOTE

• Rutgers volleyball's final three home games will be played at the College Ave Gym in New Brunswick. 

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

• Rutgers last met Indiana a week ago taking the opening frame from the Hoosiers before falling 3-1. Alissa Kinkela and Taylor Humphrey led the attack with 10 kills each, while Alyssa Nayar notched her 10^th double-double of the season and 31^st of her career behind 37 assists and 12 digs. Defensively, Madyson Chitty collected her 10^th match of the year with 20 or more digs with a match-high 20 while Rutgers totaled 17 blocks led by  Kristina Grkovic with six stops. 
• On Sunday, Rutgers broke the program's attendance record with 6,757 coming thru the doors of Jersey Mike's Arena to watch the Scarlet Knights play No. 1 Nebraska. While the Cornhuskers remained undefeated, Alissa Kinkela led RU with eight kills and career-high 15 digs while Zora Hardison hit .455 with six kills on 11 swings. Alyssa Nayar came up with 23 assists pushing her career total at Rutgers in the category over 1,000 and becoming the sixth Scarlet Knight of the rally era with 1,000 or more career assists. She also cracked the rally-era season top 10 with 728 helpers to-date in 2023. Madyson Chitty also added 11 digs for the Scarlet Knights surpassing the 1,200 career dig mark.
• Heading into the week, redshirt sophomore right side Alissa Kinkela leads the offense with 3.06 k/s both overall and in Big Ten play. In her third season "On The Banks", Kinkela is currently third in the rally-era career kills per set at 2.84 behind Caitlin Saxton's 3.13 k/s (2008-10) and Sarah Schmid's 3.18 k/s (2012). Last Friday in a win at Iowa that gave RU double-figure wins for the first time since 2012, Kinkela collected her fifth double-double of the year behind a season-high 19 kills and 11 digs.
• Senior middle Kristina Grkovic is adding 2.14 k/s hitting a team-best .324 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 five in blocks and top 10 leaders in kills, aces, and points.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar is on the set averaging 8.77 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 10 double-doubles on the season which is currently fourth on the RU season leaders list. 
• Senior libero Madyson Chitty is currently logging 3.67 d/s, ranking seventh 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 more recently surpassed the 1,200 career mark putting her name fourth all-time and third in the rally era at Rutgers.

SCOUTING INDIANA

• The Hoosiers are 17-10 overall and 7-7 in Big Ten play after a 3-1 win at Rutgers last Friday and a 3-1 setback at Ohio State on Saturday.
• Offensively, Indiana is led by sophomore outside Candela Alonso-Corcelles at 2.56 k/s and graduate student middle blocker Kaley Rammelsberg at 2.52 k/s hitting .368, fifth in the Big Ten. They are aided by junior setter Camryn Haworth at 9.92 a/s, third in the Big Ten, and a nation-leading 61aces.
• Rammelsberg also leads the Hoosiers at the net with 85 total blocks closely followed by senior middle Savannah Kjolhede at 84 stops. Freshman libero Ramsey Gary leads the squad and Big Ten at 4.46 d/s.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

• The Wolverines enter the weekend at 6-17 overall and 4-10 in the Big Ten and will play at No. 16 Penn State before heading to the College Ave Gym. Michigan is currently on a three-game winning streak aided by sweeps of Iowa and Maryland at home last weekend.
• Michigan is led by senior outside Kendall Murray at 2.70 k/s while junior middle Jacque Boney is hitting a team-best .325 averaging 2.46 k/s. Murray along with freshman outside hitter Valentina Vaulet led UM with 29 service aces. On the set, the Wolverines will look to freshman Morgan Burke at 7.24 a/s and Scottee Johnson at 6.88 a/s. 
• Defensively, sophomore middle Serena Nyambio has totaled 74 blocks while redshirt senior libero Hannah Grant is collecting 3.20 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 plays in its final two home games of the 2023 season welcoming Northwestern on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. and Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the College Ave Gym. Admission is free.
• The Scarlet Knight seniors will be honored prior to playing in their final home game on Saturday, Nov. 18 prior to first serve with the Spartans.

Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.