PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Freshman Natalie Robinson became the Rutgers rally-era season leader in block as the Scarlet Knight volleyball squad closed out the Jersey Mike's Arena portion of its 2024 schedule with a battle against No. 4 Penn State.

The Nittany Lions took the win 25-12, 25-22, 25-20.
 

• With her trio of blocks, Natalie Robinson posted her 121^st block of the season to surpass Jasmine Stackhouse's record of 120 set in 2018 to take over the top spot. Additionally, she is three blocks away from becoming the rally-era block assist leader and taking over the number one spot from Stackhouse, who tops the list with 110 in 2018.
• Sophomore Zora Hardison led the attack for the second straight match in putting away 10 kills on 17 swings with only one error to hit .529 on the night. She also had a trio of stops at the net.
• Redshirt junior Alissa Kinkela enters the 2024 season finale needing 12 kills to become the Rutgers rally-era leader in kills, surpassing Alex Lassa (2012-15) and her 929 career kills.
• Aiding the offense was junior Aly Borellis with 10 helpers.
• Sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad added a team-leading 10 digs for the defense.

• SET 1 (12-25) | The fourth-ranked Nittany Lions rattled off the match's first five points and swung .333 in its first-set victory. Rutgers saw some momentum midway as kills in the middle from Natalie Robinson and Zora Hardison helped fuel a 4-1 run as RU trailed 14-9. Alissa Kinkela led the Scarlet Knights with three kills on 10 swings and no errors.

S2 | 😎
.#GoRU ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/MyLoZy9Jwn

— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) November 28, 2024

• SET 2 (22-25) | The second set was tied up on six occasions and RU trailed 23-22 before Penn State went up 2-0. Down 12-7, Rutgers powered forth for a trio of ties at the midway point. Out of a timeout, the Scarlet Knights scored four unanswered and seven of nine to knot the score at 14-14. Kinkela, would tie the set up at 15-15 moments later and a Nittany Lion error evened the score at 17-17. Penn State, however, tallied two kills and an ace to follow to stay ahead for good. While the Nittany Lions did not relinquish the lead, Hardison went back-to-back with a solo block and a swing for RU to trail 22-21 and a PSU service error also had the Scarlet Knights down by a point at 23-22. The Nittany Lions, however, took the set on kills from Jess Mruzik and Maggie Mendelson. Hardison led RU with four kills on six attacks.

S2 | All tied up in New Jersey 👏
.#GoRU ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ya6RMKmXwp

— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) November 28, 2024

• SET 3 (20-25) | Penn State opened with a 7-4 edge, but Rutgers countered with four unanswered to take an 8-7 lead. Anna Hartman racked up a kill and a block to put RU on top, while moments later, a Lexi Visintine kill had RU up 9-8. The Nittany Lions, however, responded with a 5-0 run to take back the lead.  A timeout helped put a stop to the PSU burst as the Scarlet Knights came out with another Hartman kill and solo stop from Hardison to trail 13-11. Robinson became the RU rally-era blocks leader with her third and final block the evening with RU behind 19-14. Penn State would grow its lead to as many as six, but RU would serve up the ball four times at the end before the visitors garnered the victory.

S3 | Take me to your leader - Natalie is our rally-era blocks leader 💪
.#GoRU ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Y7yihfXM5y

— Rutgers Volleyball (@RUvball) November 28, 2024

• The Rutgers volleyball team closes out the 2024 season on Friday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. at the College Ave Gym against Maryland. The Scarlet Knights will honor Alissa Kinkela and Ece Emrullah for Senior Day following the match.