NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball closed out nonconference action on Friday night with a five-set setback to Princeton at the College Ave Gym.

After the Tigers took set one, 25-23, the Scarlet Knights roared back with 25-12 and 25-16 victories. Princeton, however, forced the deciding set after a 25-19 win and took the match 15-12.

Rutgers ends nonconference play at 8-2 overall, its best nonconference record since 2012. Princeton improved to 3-5 overall.

• Three Scarlet Knights finished not only in double-figure kills but a pair captured career highs as well. Senior Kristina Grkovic led with a match-high 16 kills hitting at a .469 clip with only one error in 32 attacks. Sophomore Bekah Williams notched 14 kills including seven in the third set victory and hit .444 on the night. 
• Redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela put away 13 kills tying her season best and came up with her first career double-double by adding 11 digs.
• Kinkela also captured a career-high in aces serving up six of RU's 10 in the match.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar collected her fourth double-double of the year behind 45 assists and a match-high 17 digs.
• Rutgers came up with 13 blocks led by four from Grkovic.
• Senior Madyson Chitty posted her 1,000th career dig becoming the 10th Scarlet Knight to join the club.

• Set 1 (23-25) | Rutgers narrowed a five-point deficit to trail 23-22, but the opening frame went to Princeton. The set endured 12 ties before the Tigers took a 20-15 advantage. The Scarlet Knights outscored Princeton 7-3 to close within a point capped by one of Kristina Grkovic's set-leading six kills. The Tigers, however, stayed in front for the 1-0 lead. Grkovic hit .750 with no errors on eight attacks. Madyson Chitty posted her 1,000 career dig in the set. 

• Set 2 (25-12) | The Scarlet Knights responded by coming out of the gate in the second frame taking a 7-1 lead. While Princeton came out of a timeout with five straight points to reduce its deficit to a point, RU never lost the lead. The Tigers would end up committing nine errors on the attack and hit in the negative while the Scarlet Knights connected on a .368 clip and closed out the set on an 8-0 run. Alissa Kinkela put away a trio of aces and collected a pair of kills. 

• Set 3 (25-16) | Rutgers went out to another early lead this time racing out to a 14-4 advantage and led from start to finish for the second-straight set. Princeton followed with a 6-1 run but it was still the Scarlet Knights in front at 15-10. RU ended the set outscoring the Tigers 6-1 including three kills by Bekah Williams and two from Alissa Kinkela. Altogether, Williams finished with seven kills in the frame while Alissa Kinkela served up another pair of aces. 

• Set 4 (19-25) | The Scarlet Knights were leading 17-14 when Princeton went on an 11-2 burst to tie the match up at 2-2. A Beka Williams swing had RU on top 18-16 but the Tigers scored the next five points to flip the lead in the visitor's favor.

• Set 5 (12-15) |  Taylor Humphrey tied up the deciding set for the sixth and final time at 6-6 when Princeton collected the four points to stay in front for good. The Tigers had only one error, coming from the service line, the rest of the way as they hit .444 for the stanza. Alissa Kinkela brought RU within two points at 12-10 with another one of her swings, but the set would end with each squad trading points. 

• Kristina Grkovic's 16 kills surpassed her previous career best of 13 at Rider last week.
• Bekah William's 14 kills bested her previous career-high of 12 in a five-set victory at Virginia opening weekend.
• Alissa Kinkela usurped her previous high in aces with six against the Tigers. Her previous high was two last captured against Howard in week two. The six aces are tied for the third-most by a Scarlet Knight in a rally-era match, tied for the most by an RU player in a five-set match and is tied for the second most by a Big Ten player in a match this season.
• Kinkela also set a new career mark in digs with 11 for her first match in double-figure digs. Her previous best was nine against Radford back on Sept. 2, 2022.
• Alyssa Nayar's double-double was her fourth of the season and 25th of her career.
• Rutgers had two players in double-doubles for the second time this season with Alyssa Nayar's 45 assists and 17 digs and Alissa Kinkela's 13 kills and 11 digs. RU also had a pair of Scarlet Knight doubles-doubles against NC State on Sept. 23 where the five-set match saw Nayar post 26 assists and Taylor Humphrey post 10 kills and 10 digs.  

• The Rutgers volleyball team begins Big Ten play next. The Scarlet Knights head to Happy Valley to meet #13 Penn State on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. on BTN. RU will return home to Jersey Mike's Arena to host #17 Purdue on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. on Letterwinner Day - Click here to register.  Fans can also join the Scarlet Knights on the concourse following Sunday's match with the Boilermakers for autographs.