Photo by: Zach Del Bello
Volleyball Heads To Wooo Pig Invitational With #21 Arkansas, Little Rock & LA Tech
Sep 03 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Week two has Rutgers volleyball traveling to the Wooo Pig Invitational at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas where the Scarlet Knights will meet up with host #21 Arkansas, Little Rock and LA Tech.
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.
| GAME DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Barnhill Arena | Fayetteville, Ark. |
| Game Notes: | Rutgers | Arkansas | Little Rock | LA Tech |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Arkansas | Little Rock | LA Tech | Big Ten |
| Schedule: | Thursday, Sept. 5 at #21 Arkansas - 8 p.m. (ET) Video (SEC Network +) | Live Stats Friday, Sept. 6 vs. Little Rock - 5:30 p.m. (ET) Live Stats Saturday, Sept. 1 vs. LA Tech - 1 p.m. (ET) Live Stats |
| Social Media: | Facebook | X | Instagram |
| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- RU continues to trend upward as it takes the court for Caitlin Schweihofer's fifth season "On The Banks". The Scarlet Knights, in each season in Schweihofer's tenure, have taken a step up on the ladder of success with the squad anticipating moving up another rung behind eight returnees and eight newcomers.
- On the list of last year's notables was Rutgers' first-ever All-Big Ten attacker, first-ever top 25 victory with a 3-1 win over No. 16 Minnesota, the most overall wins and best nonconference record since 2012, a set win improvement by 45% over the previous season and a school record in attendance. Altogether the Scarlet Knights 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. Additionally, head coach Caitlin Schweihofer registered her 100th career victory.
- Incoming setter junior Ally Borellis, sophomore Zora Hardison, who started the last 10 matches of the season in the middle and sophomore defensive specialist Kenzie Dyrstad were invited to the U.S. women's National Team Open Program marking the second-straight year a trio of Scarlet Knights have represented Rutgers at the event.
| UNT INVITE RECAP |
- Rutgers opened up the 2024 campaign last weekend in Denton, Texas playing at the Super Pit with a sweep of host North Texas, a four-set setback to Miami, a squad receiving votes both in the preseason and this week's poll and loss to Colorado. Freshmen Lily Bolen and Avery Jesewitz were named to the All-Tournament Team. Bolen totaled 41 assists,14 digs and six aces across the 10 sets played on the weekend while Jesewitz averaged 2.10 kills per set hitting .405 in the three games along with six blocks.
- Against the host Mean Green, who appeared in last year's National Invitational Volleyball Championship, Rutgers prevailed 25-23, 30-28, 25-18. Two Scarlet Knights were in double-figure kills led by Anna Hartman's 12, including set point in the first frame and match point. Avery Jesewitz, meanwhile, hit .500 with 10 kills to go along with five blocks. Lexi Visintine served up a career-high three aces while adding seven kills and eight digs. Aly Borellis notched 23 assists with Lily Bolen contributing 17 helpers and a pair of aces. Natalie Robinson collected a match-high seven blocks and sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad led RU with nine digs.
- The Scarlet Knights and Hurricanes, meanwhile, battled through 14 ties in the opening frame with Miami ultimately coming out on top, 28-26, followed by RU tying up the match with a 25-23 victory in set two in another tightly contested frame. The Hurricanes, however, took the victory behind a 25-19 set three win and a 25-10 win in set four. Returning Second Team All-Big Ten attacker Alissa Kinkela opened the season leading RU with 12 kills, two aces and a pair of blocks. Robinson tallied eight kills hitting .538 and a game-high four blocks. The rookie Scarlet Knight made only one error on 13 swings. Hartman also had eight kills on 10 swings through the evening's first two sets. Borellis collected 16 assists, while Lily Bolen registered 15 helpers to accompany a trio of aces. On defense, Dyrstad racked up a game-high 12 digs.
- The weekend concluded with the Buffalos topping RU 12-25, 17-25, 16-25. Jesewitz led the attack with eight kills hitting .500 in making only one error on 14 attempts. Borellis set up the offense with 12 assists and led the squad with five digs.
| SCOUTING ARKANSAS |
- The Razorbacks enter the week ranked at No. 21 opening the 204 season with a five-set win over St. Mary's, a sweep of Sacramento State and a 3-1 victory at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California last week. In 2023, Arkansas went 28-6 overall and 15-3 in SEC battles reaching the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight before being halted by No. 1 Nebraska.
- Redshirt freshman Aniya Madkin leads the Arkansas attack at 3.67 k/s with senior Hanna Hogue setting up 10.92 a/s. Hogue is also second on the state sheet with 4.33 d/s. Redshirt sophomore libero Kylie Weeks, meanwhile, has served up four aces through the season's first three contests.
- On defense, both senior Sania Petties and sophomore Romani Thurman have totaled 12 blocks and senior Courtney Jackson leads with 4.42 d/s
| SCOUTING LITTLE ROCK |
- Little Rock comes to the Woo Pig Invite also at 3-0 and are off to their best after kicking off the season with a 3-1 win at Texas A&M-Commerce, a five-set victory over Tarleton State and a sweep of Central Arkansas.
- On the attack, the Trojans are led by senior Jeila Fullerton at 3.83 ks/ with sophomores Dariana Valencia and Kaylee Smith averaging 5.75 and 5.58 assists per set respectively. Junior Kaila Harris and Valencia lead at the service line with five aces each.
- At the net, junior A'lanae Margarith leads the defense with 15 total blocks, while sophomore Andra Roman is putting away 5.17 d/s.
| SCOUTING LA TECH |
- After a 3-1 loss against San Jose State, the Bulldogs won a pair of matches with Cal State Fulletron, 3-1 and 3-0, to open up the season.
- Middle blocker Rori Gray was named the CUSA Freshman of the Week. She captured 11 kills with a .455 hitting clip in LA Tech's four-set win over Fullerton and helped ignite a 26-11 run that spanned the second and third sets in the sweep finishing the match with nine kills and four blocks.
- On the stat sheet, the offense is led by junior Giula Bonifacio at 3.40 k/s with sophomore Grace Krohn and senior Lauren Albrecht collecting 3.86 and 3.82 a/s respectively.
- Senior Charlize Williams has recorded four solo and six blocks for the defense and senior McKenzie Johnson is averaging 4.0 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 makes its 2024 home debut next week at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Scarlet Knights host LIU on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m., Binghamton on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. and VCU on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m.
- Admission to all home games is free.
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.
- RU -
Players Mentioned
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/DS
/ Women's VolleyballJersey Mic'd with Skylar George
Wednesday, March 25
Rutgers Volleyball Vs Washington Highlights
Friday, November 28
Rutgers Volleyball vs. Oregon Highlights
Thursday, November 27
Rutgers Volleyball vs. Ohio State Highlights
Monday, November 24
