FAIRFAX, Va. – It was another sweep for Rutgers volleyball to open up the Patriot Invite on Friday afternoon.

The Scarlet Knights downed Coppin State in straight sets 25-17, 25-23, 25-16, for its seventh-straight win and fourth-straight sweep. It's RU's longest win streak since 2012 and the most consecutive three-set victories since 2012. Rutgers has captured sweeps in six of its last seven matches.

RU improved to 8-2 overall while Coppin State dropped to 6-8 on the year.

 

 

• Sophomore right side Aspen Maxwell continued to lead the offense with her match-high 15 kills. In addition to hitting .379 on the afternoon, she also added six digs.
• Classmate Lily Bolen racked up 35 helpers, registered the assist on all but five of RU's kills in the match. She also came up with six digs.
• Fellow classmate Alleigh Dutton led RU with nine digs and served up a pair of aces.
• Senior outside Lexi Visintine added six kills, two aces, seven digs and a pair of blocks and classmate Tara Garvey was just shy of double-figure kills with nine in the victory.
• On the block, sophomore middle Natalie Robinson made four assisted stops and junior Zora Hardison collected three blocks, including two solo stops, to move into the top five of RU's rally-era career leaders list with 37 across her three seasons.

• SET 1 (25-27) | Rutgers never trailed and kicked off the match by going out to an 11-5 lead. The Scarlet Knights' starting run was capped by a service ace from Alleigh Dutton.  Coppin State pulled no closer than four at 11-7. RU grew its advantage to double digits by scoring seven of nine, including a run of five straight, to pull out to a 21-11 advantage. Aspen Maxwell led the attack with five kills and hit .500.

• SET 2 (25-23) | The Scarlet Knights came back after trailing by four. With the Eagles ahead 22-18, RU powered back by closing out the set on a 7-1 win to take the 2-0 lead. The two sides were knotted at 10-10 when Coppin State pushed in front with a 4-1 run to take a 14-11 edge. Following a Scarlet Knight timeout, RU captured six of the next nine points with Lexi Visintine delivering an ace to tie the frame up at 16-16. The frame was tied two more times at 17-17 and 18-18 before Coppin State captured four-straight to pull out to a 22-18 lead. RU, however, punched back with its 7-1 burst with Maxwell accounting for three kills during the run, including set point.

• SET 3 (25-16) | The momentum continued in set number three as RU opened with the first four points and never trailed. Dutton served up her second ace of the afternoon to help the Scarlet Knights take command with an 11-5 lead and a string of six-straight put Rutgers up 22-13. Maxwell posted five kills for the third-straight set, hitting .556 with no errors on nine swings.

• Rutgers concludes the Patriot Invite on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. against host George Mason.
• The Scarlet Knights return home on Tuesday, Sept. 23 to host Columbia in their nonconference finale. Click here to purchase tickets.