PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball tackled the seventh-ranked team in the country for its Big Ten opener on Friday night, dropping a 3-0 match (25-17, 25-17, 25-12) at the UW Fieldhouse to Wisconsin.

The Scarlet Knights fell to 9-4 overall while the Badgers won their seventh straight to up their mark to 8-1 on the season.
 

• Sophomore Aspen Maxwell dropped in nine kills and a trio of blocks.
• Junior Zora Hardison also collected a trio of blocks.
• Sophomore Lily Bolen gathered 23 assists and joined classmate Alleigh Dutton with a match-high eight digs.
• Bolen, senior Lexi Visintine and junior Jenna DeLaMater each registered an ace.

• SET 1 (17-25) | A swing by Aspen Maxwell has the Scarlet Knights up 12-11 but the Badgers came back to tie the frame for the seventh and final time to follow. The sophomore right side pulled RU within two with RU trailing 17-15, but the Badgers went on to score five unanswered en route to the win. Maxwell delivered five kills on six swings while Tara Garvey added three kills on seven attempts, both with no errors.

• SET 2 (17-25) | Rutgers and Wisconsin were knotted up at 6-6 when the Badgers took a 9-1 run to stay in front.  The Scarlet Knights narrowed the gap with five-straight, including an ace from Lily Bolen, to trail 15-12. The Badgers, however, powered ahead with five of the next six points to remain in command. Lexi Visintine accounted for four of her seven kills in the set.

• SET 3 (12-25) | The hosts kicked off the final frame with the first five points. A swing from Maxwell, blocks from Maxwell and Zora Hardison, and a kill from Lexi Visintine helped RU close the deficit, with the Scarlet Knights behind 8-5, but Wisconsin only continued to grow its lead from there.  

• The Rutgers volleyball team makes its back-to-back road matches against the top 15 as the Scarlet Knights head to Minneapolis to take on No. 12 Minnesota on Sunday at 3 p.m. (ET) at Maturi Pavilion.