Photo by: Vivian Uricoechea
Volleyball Opens B1G Play At No. 15 Penn State Wednesday On BTN
Sep 19 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Big Ten schedule starts this week for Rutgers volleyball as the Scarlet Knights open conference play at No. 15 Penn State on BTN at 6 p.m.
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| GAME DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Rec Hall | State College, Pa. |
| Game Notes: | Rutgers | Penn State |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Penn State | Big Ten |
| TV: | BTN (Jason Knapp & Rainelle Jones) | Fox Sports App |
| Live Stats: | Statbroadcast.com |
| Social Media: | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers enters Big Ten play at 8-2 overall, marking 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 most recently senior Madyson Chitty becoming the 10th Scarlet Knight in history to reach 1,000 career digs in a five-set match with Princeton.
- Kinkela leads the offense with 3.11 k/s and a .368 hitting percentage and is second at the net with 0.84 b/s. Her current hitting percentage places her second in the rally-era season leaders behind leader Alex Jones who swung .383 in 2011. Over the last three matches, Kinkela has hit .457 with 41 kills on 81 attacks with only four errors to average 3.42 k/s from the right pin.
- Senior middle Kristina Grkovic is second on the squad at 2.27 k/s hitting .372 along with a team-leading 16 aces, which included a career-high tying five against N.C. State. She is currently ranked ninth in the Big Ten at the service line and 10th in hitting percentage. Last week, Grkovic cracked the Rutgers rally-era career kills (529) and aces (63) top ten lists. The Belgrade, Serbia native also leads the block at 1.11 b/s and is among RU's rally-era career leaders in the category.
- Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar and redshirt junior Chelsea Harvey aid the attack on the set. Nayar is averaging 8.73 helpers per set, ranking 10th in the Big Ten, and is second on the team with 2.85 d/s. She also leads the Scarlet Knights with four double-doubles on the season. Harvey, meanwhile, is putting up 8.56 a/s including averaging 10.83 in wins against Morgan State and Columbia
- Senior Madyson Chitty is currently logging 3.39 d/s and checks in ninth in the Big Ten. The Lewis Center, Ohio native became the 10th Scarlet Knight in history to reach the 1,000 career digs mark last Friday night against Princeton and is currently tied for eighth all-time at Rutgers.
- 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 Kinkella who recorded a team-leading 2.76 k/s and 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.
| SCOUTING PENN STATE |
- The Nittany Lions enter Big Ten action at 6-3 overall and are coming off a 2-0 weekend with wins over UMBC and Seton Hall at the Penn State Classic.
- Senior outside Jess Mruzik leads the PSU attack at 4.27 k/s and is second on the squad with 10 aces. Senior right-side Camryn Hannah is also adding 2.46 k/s while senior middle Allie Holland has served up a team-leading 10 aces. Setting up the attack, the Nittany Lions will look to Ohio State grad transfer Mac Podraza at 9.48 a/s.
- Defensively, Holland is the top blocker with 45 total stops, averaging 1.41 per set, with senior middle Taylor Trammell collecting 40 rejections for 1.25 per set. Sophomore libero Gillian Grimes is averaging 3.00 d/s with junior Cassie Kuerschen and senior Maddy Bilinovic recording 2.64 and 2.44 digs per set respectively.
| 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 volleyball is home at Jersey Mike's Arena for another top 25 Big Ten matchup. The Scarlet Knights welcome No. 19 Purdue on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. on Letterwinner Day. Alumnae still have to register to be a part of the day. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights will be on the concourse for post-match for autographs.
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