Volleyball Topped By No. 16 Trojans

Sunday, October 20

Piscataway, N.J.

1 p.m.

Rutgers University

5-14,0-8Big Ten

USC

14-4,6-2Big Ten

Southern California

Rutgers

Photo by: Tyler Brooks

Oct 20 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball closed out Homecoming weekend on Sunday with a setback to No. 16 USC.

The Trojans, making their first appearance at the State University of New Jersey, topped the Scarlet Knights, 25-16, 25-20, 25-17.

STANDOUT STATS

Sophomore Zora Hardison led RU with seven kills, while freshman Natalie Robinson and redshirt junior Alissa Kinkela had six each.
Sophomore Georgia Lee got the start at setter making 21 assists.
For the defense, both sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad and freshman Avery Jesewitz came up with five digs, while Robinson totaled four blocks, including a pair of solo stops.

KEY MOMENTS

SET 1 (16-25) | Blocks from Natalie Robinson and Georgia Lee had Rutgers down by a pair at 10-8. After an Alissa Kinkela swing saw RU trailing 12- 9 and an Avery Jesewitz attack had the Scarlet Knights down 13-1, USC expanded its advantage with a 6-1 run to push out to a 19-11 lead. Zora Hardison, who was successful on each of her attempts, and Jesewitz had three kills each for the Scarlet Knights.

S1 | If at first you don't succeed ...
.#GoRu ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/vxMNYt3POQ
— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) October 20, 2024

SET 2 (20-25) | After three ties and three lead changes early, USC went out to a 13-8 lead that the Scarlet Knights would whittle down to one. Out of a timeout, RU outscored the Trojans 6-2 capped by Uliana Yastrub's first career ace to trail 15-14. USC responded with four straight and five of the next six to go ahead 19-15. Rutgers narrowed the gap once again, this time with three unanswered. Back-to-back errors on the attack from the Trojans and a Kinkela kill brought RU within two at 20-18. USC came back with three of their own, but a big rally ending on a Georgia Lee kill and a Natalie Robinson attack saw the Scarlet Knights staying alive at 23-20 before the Trojans closed out the frame. Robinson finished with four kills on six swings and hit .500 for the set.

S2 | What. A. Rally. 👀
.#GoRU ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/3zq1hX6pp0
— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) October 20, 2024

SET 3 (17-25) | A solo stop from Natalie Robinson brought RU within three at 10-7 and back-to-back kills by Hardison saw RU trail 14-11. The Trojans, however, outscored RU 8-2 to cushion its lead and ended hitting .435 for the frame. Hardison and Kinkela both led the Scarlet Knights with a trio of kills with Robinson adding a pair of blocks.

S3 | Never 😴 on Zora in the middle
.#GoRU ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/sQqlPeyq27
— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) October 20, 2024

UP NEXT

The Rutgers volleyball team makes its inaugural Big Ten West Coast weekend traveling to No. 24 Washington on Friday, Oct. 25 and No. 11 Oregon on Sunday, Oct. 27.

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

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