FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Rutgers volleyball kicked off the Sacred Heart Invitational on Friday, dominating Dartmouth at the William H. Pitt Athletic & Convocation Center in a three-set victory.

The Scarlet Knights swept the Big Green 25-10, 25-12, 25-15.

RU evened its season record to 2-2 on the year while Dartmouth played in its season opener.



 

• The Scarlet Knights made two record book entries as RU's .348 attack percentage was the ninth-best of the rally-era, while sophomore Aspen Maxwell's team-leading 16 kills tied for the fifth best among Scarlet Knights in a three-set match.
• RU kept Dartmouth in the negative on the attack as the Big Green hit -.034. The Scarlet Knights last held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage back on Sept. 13, 2019, in a straight-set win over New Hampshire. The Wildcats swung -.036.
• Maxwell hit .500 for the contest and added a pair of aces, seven digs and two blocks to her stat line.
• Junior Zora Hardison made only one error on 12 swings to add nine kills to go along with her trio of blocks.
• Sophomore Lily Bolen was just shy of a double-double, putting up 29 helpers and nine digs.
• Graduate student Lauren Wilcock put away three aces late in the second set to lead RU at the service line.
• Sophomore Alleigh Dutton came up with a game-high 12 digs.

• SET 1 (25-10) | The afternoon opened with the Scarlet Knights hitting .433 with Aspen Maxwell leading the way with six kills and Zora Hardison successful on all five attacks. Rutgers took control as Maxwell swung away for four kills on a 7-0 run to put the Scarlet Knights up 8-2. Later, an 8-1 burst extended RU's advantage to 19-5, including aces from Maxwell and Lexi Visintine. Dartmouth was limited to only four kills and hit  -.103.

• SET 2 (25-12) | RU held a four-point 15-11 edge and then rolled with 10 unanswered points. Included in the run was a trio of aces from Lauren Wilcock. It was the only frame in which the Big Green was not hitting in the negative, finishing with a .062 clip. The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, had Maxwell add another four kills to her line. Lily Bolen was the helper on 12 of RU's 15 kills.

• SET 3 (25-15) | A Lexi Visintine ace put the Scarlet Knights up 12-6 and from there RU led by at least five points the rest of the way. Maxwell put away six more kills, one more than Dartmouth had in the frame, and hit .714 with only one error on seven swings. The Big Green, conversely, hit -.077.

• Rutgers volleyball is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 6, against host Sacred Heart at 6 p.m.