Volleyball Travels To Summit Hospitality Group Open At NC State

Thursday, August 31

Raleigh, N.C.

2:00 PM

Rutgers University

Winthrop

Rikki Williams on the attack against Virginia in a 3-2 victory over the Cavaliers at the Cavalier Classic on Aug. 26, 2023

Photo by: Keith Lucas

Volleyball Travels To Summit Hospitality Group Open At NC State

Aug 29 | Women's Volleyball

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers' nonconference schedule continues as the Scarlet Knights remain in ACC country for the Summit Hospitality Group Open hosted by North Carolina State.

The Scarlet Knights will open the tournament with Winthrop on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 2:00 p.m., meet host NC State on Friday, Sept. 1 at 6:00 p.m. in a contest streamed by ACCNX and wrap up the weekend with Howard on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 1:00 p.m.

GAME DAY INFO

Venue:	Reynolds Coliseum \| Raleigh, N.C.
Game Notes:	Rutgers \| Winthrop \| NC State \| Howard
Statistics:	Rutgers \| Winthrop \| NC State \| Howard \| Big Ten
Video:	vs. NCSU only (ACCNX)
Live Stats:	vs. Winthrop \| vs. NC State \| vs. Howard
Social Media:	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, August 31

Rutgers vs. Winthrop - 2:00 p.m.
NC State vs. Howard - 6:00 p.m.

Friday, September 1

Winthrop vs. Howard - 2:00 p.m.
Rutgers at NC State - 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 2

Rutgers vs. Howard - 1:00 p.m.
NC State vs. Winthrop - 5:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Rutgers returns nine letterwinners and welcomes six newcomers to the court for the 2023 campaign.
Eighty-four percent of last year's attack is back including redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkella who recorded a team-leading 2.76 k/s and sophomore Taylor Humphrey who as a rookie collected 2.54 k/s. Kinkela totaled 301 kills in 2022 marking the ninth-most by a Scarlet Knight in a rally-era season. Humphrey also had another notable record book entry as she tied for most kills in a rally-era three-set match with 18 kills against the College of Charleston.
RU enters the weekend at 2-0 after capturing the Cavalier Classic Title with a 3-0 victory over North Carolina A&T and 3-2 win against host UVA. Fifth-year senior setter Alyssa Nayar was named the Cavalier Classic MVP averaging 7.88 helpers per set and collecting her first double-double of the season in the win over the Cavs. Joining Nayar on the all-tournament team were Kinkella, who led RU on the weekend with 3.25 kills per set, and sophomore Bekah Williams, who logged 2.83 kills per set.
Senior middle Krista Grkovic was second on the squad a year ago with 103 total blocks but led the Scarlet Knights with an average of 1.02 per set. She also was tops at the service line racking up 34 aces. Last weekend, Grkovic posted 13 total blocks, including a career-high 11 stops against Virginia with a career-high tying three solo rejections. Over the two games, Grkovic cracked the Rutgers rally-era career leaders' top 10 list in total blocks and block assists while moving up to fifth in solo blocks.
Senior Madyson Chitty, who has led Rutgers in digs throughout her career, collected 2.77 per set last season. Last weekend, Chitty became the 12th Scarlet Knight in history to surpass the 900 career dig mark and averaged 3.88 digs per set in the two wins.
On this year's schedule, seven opponents appear on the Preseason AVCA Poll including No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Penn State, No. 14 Ohio State, No. 16 Purdue and RV Illinois.

SCOUTING WINTHROP

The Eagles are 0-3 after falling to Wyoming and Green Back in straight sets and falling 1-3 to South Dakota State at the Wyoming Tournament.
Winthtrop's offense is led by sophomore opposite Avery Jolley at 3.11 k/s and senior middle/opposite Brookelynn Thomas at 2.43 k/s and three aces. Redshirt sophomore setter Isabella Murray sets up the attack averaging 8.56 a/s.
Defensively, the Eagles look to freshman libero Alyah Cadavid at 3.00 d/s and Rachel McCollum at 2.00 d/s with graduate student middle blocker Alicia Roberts having totaled 13 blocks to date.
Rutgers and Winthrop's only other meeting was in 2014 with the Eagles winning in straight sets at the Falcon Classic at the US Air Force Academy.

SCOUTING NC STATE

The host Wolfpack are 2-1 on the year with a 3-1 and 3-2 victory against Utah Valley and three set loss to Utah, a squad receiving votes, last weekend in Orem, Utah
NC State's sophomore outside hitter Ava Brizard leads the attack at 3.25 k/s and five aces with freshman outside hitter Clara Vondran contributing 3.00 k/s. Kristen McDaniel, meanwhile, adds 6.25 a/s with senior setter Naomi Cabello putting up 4.50 a/s.
At the net, senior middle Riley Shaak and junior middle Jada Allen have totaled 12 and 10 blocks respectively while sophomore libero Sydney Daniels is averaging 2.50 d/s and senior libero Syke Stokes is coming up 2.08 d/s.
Rutgers and NC State last met in 2021 as the Wolfpack took part in the first-ever weekend of volleyball at Jersey Mike's Arena in RU's first-ever BTN televised game at home. NSCU prevailed in five sets after Rutgers came back down 2-0 to force the deciding frame. The all-time series is knotted up at 3-3.

SCOUTING HOWARD

The Bison enter the weekend at 2-1 after dropping the opener to Georgetown, 1-3, but rebounded with five-set wins over George Washington and George Mason.
MEAC Player of the Week, sophomore outside hitter Rya McKinnon, leads the way at 5.46 k/s followed by junior outside hitter Dami Awojobi at 4.00 k/s. MEAC Setter of the Week, graduate student Kayla Diaz, has notched all but nine of Howard's assists this season helping on 154 of the Bison's 176 kills averaging 11.00 per set.
On defense, sophomore libero Claire Simpson is coming up with 4.93 d/s while MEAC Defensive Player of the Week, junior middle Maya Gerlach, and senior freshman middle Kaitlynn Robinson have collected 11 blocks each.
Rutgers and Howard will be meeting for the seventh time with the Scarlet Knights holding a 4-2 edge in the series.

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.

UP NEXT

Rutgers has three games on the docket next week including the 2023 home opener. The Scarlet Knights will host Rider on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the College Ave. Gym. RU will also travel to Columbia to play Morgan State on Friday, Sept. 8 and the Lions on Saturday, Sept. 9.

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