PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball's home opening week continued playing extra volleyball in sets two and three against Binghamton Thursday night at Jersey Mike's Arena. It was the Bearcats, however, taking a 25-22, 26-24, 28-26 win.

• Redshirt junior Alissa Kinkela registered her first double-double of the year and eighth of her career with 13 kills and 11 digs. She also added four blocks.
• Freshman Avery Jesewitz was also in double-figure kills for a third time this season tying her season high with 11.
• Junior Aly Borellis set up 21 assists.
• Sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad joined Kinkella with 11 digs for the defense.
• In the middle, sophomore Zora Hardison made a game and season-high six blocks.

• SET 1 (22-25) | Both squads used significant runs to open up the match. Rutgers took an 11-4 run to establish a 15-11 advantage at the timeout while Binghamton countered with a 12-5 run for a 23-20 lead. Alissa Kinkela and Avery Jesewitz totaled 10 kills on 13 swings to combine for a .769 hitting percentage while the Scarlet Knights swung .548 as a team.

• SET 2 (26-24) | Binghamton opened with five straight and led by as many as six, but Rutgers kept chipping away pulling within a pair.  Zora Hardison and Jesewitz created the wall at the net as RU trailed 22-20. The Bearcats reached set point but the Scarlet Knights continued the fight to tie up the frame at 24-24. RU rattled off four consecutive points including three kills by Jesewitz to knot the score. The Bearcats, however, prevailed. Kinkela reached double-figure kills with five in the frame.

• SET 3 (26-28) | Early in the set, the two squads played to 11 ties and three lead changes until Rutgers pulled ahead with four straight. Zora Hardison joined in on the attack with a pair of swings to push RU out to a 15-11 edge. The Scarlet Knights extended its lead to six at 18-12 as RU's run continued three of the next four points. Binghamton came back with five unanswered and went on to tie up the stanza at 23 all. The squads traded points until a Hardison swing put the Scarlet Knights at set point. A service error and Bearcat block, however, gave Binghamton a shot a taking the frame. An errant serve from the Bearcats brought the score to 26-26 for the 15^th and final tie of the frame before putting away the next two points.

• Rutgers volleyball closes out its weekend with VCU on Saturday, Sept. 14  at 2 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena,
• Admission to all home games is free.