PISCATAWAY, N.J.  – Rutgers volleyball heads off on its inaugural Big Ten west coast weekend, traveling to Washington to meet the Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday, Oct. 25 at 10 p.m. (ET), followed by a Sunday afternoon battle against No. 11 Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena on Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. (ET)

   

GAME DAY INFO

  

Venue:	Alaska Airlines Arena | Seattle, Wash. & Matthew Knight Arena | Eugene, Ore
Game Notes:	Rutgers | Washington | Oregon
Statistics:	Rutgers | Washington | Oregon | Big Ten
Schedule:	Friday, Oct. 25 vs. Washington - 10 p.m. (ET) B1G+ | Live Stats Sunday, Oct. 20 vs. #11 Oregon - 4 p.m. (ET) B1G+ | Live Stats
Social Media:	Facebook | X | Instagram

          

ABOUT RUTGERS

• Rutgers returned back to Jersey Mike's Arena during Homecoming Weekend to host a pair of nationally-ranked Big Ten opponents, falling to then-No. 14 Minnesota and No. 16 USC in straight sets.
• The Scarlet Knights, who captured their first-ever top-25 victory in program history last season at home against the then-No. 16 Golden Gophers, fell in straight sets. Avery Jesewitz led the Scarlet Knights on the attack for the fourth time this season with eight kills. She also had a team second-best seven digs. Natalie Robinson and redshirt junior Alissa Kinkela each had six kills while Aly Borellis recorded 23 assists. On defense, sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad came up with a game-high 13 digs, while Kinkela added a trio of blocks to her stat line.
• In the first-ever meeting between Rutgers and USC last Sunday, Zora Hardison led RU on the attack for the first time in her career with seven kills while Natalie Robinson and Alissa Kinkela had six kills each. Georgia Lee got the start at s,etter making 21 assists. For the defense, both Dyrstad and Jesewitz came up with five digs, while Robinson totaled four blocks, including a pair of solo stops.
• On the season, Kinkela continues to top the attack at 3.39 k/s with Borellis contributing 6.80 a/s. Both hava a trio of double-doubles under their belts. On the serve, Lily Bolen leads RU with 25 aces.
• At the net, Robinson has totaled 64 blocks, averaging 1.27 per set ranking eighth in the league, while also on defense, Dyrstad is coming up with 2.98 d/s.

B1G OPENING WEEK NEWS

• Rutgers hit a number of milestones in the opening week of Big Ten action with the Scarlet Knights going to five sets against both Iowa and Michigan.
• Alissa Kinkela was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week by the Big Ten Conference last week after pounding out 5.30 kills per set and hitting .446 along with an average 2.40 digs per set and six blocks in RU's two five-set Big Ten openers. Kinkela, who is the first-ever Scarlet Knight to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors, set the program record for kills in a match and became the seventh Scarlet Knight of the rally era to reach the 800 career kill mark. Against Iowa, Kinkela set a host of Scarlet Knight records with her 29 kills. She surpassed her previous career high of 21 set against Michigan State on Nov. 23, 2022. She bested the RU Big Ten record of kills in a match, exceeding the previous mark of 25 set by Meme Fletcher versus Maryland on Oct. 21, 2015. She then collected the Rutgers rally-era record in kills in a match in passing the previous record of 27 registered by Fletcher versus Long Beach State on Sept. 5, 2015. Her 29 kills also marked the second-most in a match by a player in the conference this season. Kinkela, who hit .429 against the Hawkeyes, also collected 10 digs for her second double-double of the season and ninth of her career. She also tied her season-high with four blocks. Kinkela followed that performance with another 20+ kill outing, helping Rutgers collect two set wins over Michigan for the first time in program history and the first set win in Ann Arbor since 2015. The Melbourne, Australia product surpassed the 800 career kill mark behind 24 kills and a .432 hitting percentage. She also added 14 digs, one shy of her career mark, for her third double-double of the season and 10th of her career.
• Other Iowa match notables included Natalie Robinson reaching the double-figure block mark for the first time in her career with 10 stops. It marked the third-most blocks by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten match and the most in a rally-era match. Lexi Visintine posted her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs and it was new career high for Kenzie Dyrstad in reaching 20-dig mark.
• At Michigan, the Scarlet Knights took their first set in Ann Arbor since 2015 and captured two set wins over Michigan for the first time in program history. In addition to Kinkela's 24 kills, sophomore Zora Hardison collected a new career high in kills with 15 and Dyrstad served up a career-high four aces. Junior Aly Borellis produced a season-high 51 helps and her first Scarlet Knight double-double in adding 10 digs. 

SCOUTING WASHINGTON

• Washington enters the week narrowly missing out on the top 25 with a 14-4 overall record and 4-4 even mark in the Big Ten. The Huskies recently snapped a four-game slide with a 3-1 win at Michigan State on Sunday.
• Washington's offense is powered by Madi Endsley, who leads the team with 2.67 k/s. Meanwhile, the offense is run thru Molly Wilson, averaging 5.85 a/s. Wilson also poses a threat from the service line with 20 aces this season. 
• On the defensive side, Julia Hunt leads the Huskies with 1.31 b/s totaling 85 total stops to check in sixth int he league, while Lauren Bays anchors the back row with 3.35 d/s.

SCOUTING OREGON

• Oregon remains at No. 11 this week in the AVCA Top 25 Poll with a 14-3 overall and 6-2 Big Ten record. Last weekend, the Ducks suffered a 3-1 setback at No. 9 Wisconsin but rebounded by the same score at Iowa. Oregon will host Maryland on Friday night before welcoming the Scarlet Knights.
• Oregon's offense is led by Mimi Colyer with 3.90 k/s and a .394 hitting percentage, ranking eighth in the Big Ten in both categories. The Duck's attack is orchestrated by Cristin Cline whose 10.47 a/s ranks her fifth in the conference. Additionally, Mackenzie Morris leads the Ducks with 20 service aces this season. 
• Defensively, Onye Ofoegbu has been averaging 1.23 b/s with 75 total rejections. Mackenzie Morris, meanwhile, holds down the backcourt with 2.75 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.
• More success continued in 2022 as 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 while altogether Rutgers had 11 entries among the rally-era season leaders list.
• Another step up the ladder occurred last year as the Scarlet Knights earned their first-ever All-Big Ten attacker, captured their first-ever top 25 victory, collected the most overall wins and best nonconference record since 2012, improved set wins by 45% over the previous season and set a school record in attendance.  RU placed 12 entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records and 13 entries into the rally-era team top 10 records while collecting the most sets played, kills, assists, assists per set, digs and solo blocks by a team in conference play since joining the Big Ten in 2014.  

UP NEXT

• Rutgers volleyball begins a four-game homestand hosting Indiana on Nov. 1 and No. 10 Purdue on Nov. 2. Both games serve up action at 7 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena. Admission is free.

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