FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Rutgers volleyball team opened the Wooo Pig Invitational on Thursday night battling host No. 21 Arkansas, a squad that reached last year's NCAA Elite Eight, to 24 ties and 12 lead changes. It was the Razorbacks taking the match in three, 17-25, 19-25, 20-25.
- Redshirt junior Alissa Kinkela led both sides with 11 kills, missing out on a double-double with eight digs.
- Rutgers out-blocked its SEC foe, 15-10, with sophomore Zora Hardison coming away with a game-high five stops.
- Sophomore libero Kenzie Dyrstad had 12 digs to go along with a dig-kill for her first Scarlet Knight career kill.
- Freshman Lily Bolen and junior Aly Borellis logged 14 and 13 assists respectively.
- SET 1 (17-25) | Rutgers employed a 7-2 run to knot the score up at 12-12. Five of RU's seven points came off kills, including Kenzie Dyrstad's first career kill off a dig that drew the Scarlet Knights within one, 12-11, before a swing by Zora Hardison tied up the opening frame. Arkansas responded with four unanswered and closed out the set with four unanswered for the 1-0 lead. One of Alissa Kinkela's four kills saw RU trail 21-17 before the Razorbacks closed out the set.
- SET 2 (19-25) | Avery Jesewitz and Hardison teamed up at the tape for an early 5-5 tie and began what would end up being a 9-3 burst. The run included an ace from Rebekah Williams, a pair of kills from Kinkela and a solo block by Natalie Robinson. A Jesewitz swing ended the run putting RU up 13-8. Robinson and Williams teamed up for a stop to give Rutgers a 15-10 edge, but the Razorbacks scored the next four points and closed out set two on a 15-4 run. Kinkela added another four kills to her stat line.
- SET 3 (20-25) | The final frame was a total of 12 ties and eight lead changes with Rutgers besting Arkansas in hitting percentage. With Arkansas ahead 12-9, Rutgers scored eight of the next nine points to go in front. A kill from Krista Dooley put Rutgers at the midway timeout leading 15-13 during the run and out of the huddle, a Robinson kill along with block assisted by Dooley put RU up 17-13. The Razorbacks came back with five straight to take back the lead. One of Jesewitz's four kills in the stanza along with an Arkansas attack error gave the Scarlet Knights a 19-18 edge. The hosts, however, notched seven of the next eight points for the win.
- Rutgers' second game of the Wooo Pig Invitational will be against Little Rock on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
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