Volleyball Set To Open Season At Bellarmine Classic

Friday, August 28

Louisville, Ky.

11:00 AM

Rutgers

Purdue Fort Wayne

Aspen Maxwell cheering during the 2025 season at Jersey Mike's Arena

Volleyball Set To Open Season At Bellarmine Classic

Aug 24 | Women's Volleyball

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball opens its 50th season and the 2026 campaign this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, taking on Purdue Fort Wayne, host Bellarmine and Evansville.

This Week Graphic - Rutgers Volleyball vs Purdue Fort Wanye, Bellarmine & Evansville - featuring Natalie Robinson

GAME DAY INFO

Venue:	Knights Arena \| Louisville, Kentucky
Game Notes:	Rutgers \| Purdue Fort Wayne \| Bellarmine \| Evansville
Statistics:	Rutgers \| Purdue Fort Wayne \| Bellarmine \| Evansville \| Big Ten
Schedule:	Friday, Aug. 28 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne - 11 a.m. (ET) Live Stats Friday, Aug. 28 at Bellarmine - 8 p.m. (ET) Video (ESPN+) \| Live Stats Saturday, Aug. 29 vs. Evansville - 1 p.m. (ET) Live Stats
Social Media:	Facebook \| X \| Instagram

KNOW YOUR KNIGHTS - RETURNEES

#0 - ASPEN MAXWELL - RS - Jr.

Led Rutgers with 378 kills, 3.38 kills per set, 83 blocks and 450.0 points in her first season after transferring from Missouri
Her 3.38 kills per set are the most by a Scarlet Knight since 2009
Her 450.0 points behind 378 kills, 83 blocks and 28 aces are the second most in a season by a Scarlet Knight in the rally era and three points shy of breaking the record
Led RU in kills in 20 matches and collected double-figure kills in 20 matches

#2 - Ema Grubanov - OH - R-So.

Member of Serbian Cadet National Team
Three-time state junior vice-champion
Two-time junior and cadet regional champion

#3 - Kenzie Dyrstad - L/DS - Sr.

Joins sister freshman and fellow libero Kami Drystad on the oster
Appeared in six matches before being sidelined with injury
Finished 2024 fifth in sophomore digs with 309 and averaged 2.97 per set
Career high 20 digs in Big Ten opener with Iowa back on Sept. 26, 2024
Set a new career mark in aces with four at Michigan in the Big Ten road opener on Sept. 29, 2024

#6 - Jenna DeLaMater - L/DS - Sr.

Totaled 37 aces, 24 assists and 156 digs in her first season after transferring from Central Arkansas
Fourth in the rally-era season aces with 37 last season
Served up six aces in season finale victory over Washington, marking the most aces by a Scarlet Knight in a rally-era and Big Ten match
Season-high 10 digs in Big Ten home-opening victory versus Maryland and five-set contest with Michigan, a team receiving votes

#9 - Natalie Robinson - MB - Jr.

Enters season needing 23 total blocks and 23 block assists to enter the rally-era career top 10
Currently third in rally-era career attack percentage (.311), fifth in rally-era career blocks per set (0.98) and seventh in rally-era career solo blocks (25)
Hit a team-best .372, marking the best hitting percentage by a Scarlet Knight since 2011 with 185 kills on 366 attacks
Second on the team with 12 solo blocks
Led RU in blocks in nine matches, including five or more in three matches
Hitt .556 for best hitting percentage in a four-set match in the home-opening Big Ten victory versus Maryland

#10 - Kaila Kalama-Bajet - L/DS - So.

Moves into a defensive role in her second season
Appeared in 13 matches and 23 sets
Career-high eight digs at UCLA, a team receiving votes

#11 - Lily Bolen - S - So.

Enters season ranked third in rally-era career assists per set (6.66), fourth in rally-era career assists (1,351) and ninth in rally-era career aces (69)
Led Rutgers with 1,068 assists and 9.54 assists per set, the most by a Scarlet Knight since 2012
Averaged 9.00 assists per set in Big Ten play, marking the most by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten season
Performed 11 doubles-doubles, the fourth most by a Scarlet Knight in the rally era
Career-high 55 assists in the first-ever victory over Ohio State, giving RU the most sweeps in a season since 2001

#15 - Alleigh Dutton - L/DS - Jr.

Currently ranks ninth in rally-era career digs per set (2.30)
Averaged 3.00 digs per set, leading RU in 25 matches with double-figure digs in 18 contests
Collected five or more assists in 10 matches
Tied career-high with 17 digs, also the most in a three-set match in 2025, in a sweep of Sacred Heart, vs. Liberty and five-set contest at Iowa

#16 - Imani Howell - MB - So.

Started final seven matches of 2025, totaling 52 kills and 28 blocks, including eight solo stops
Post career-high 16 kills and career-high six blocks in first career start in a five-set match with Ohio State
Also hit a career-best .370 against the Buckeyes

#17 - Avery Jesewitz - OH - Jr.

Appeared in 20 matches and 33 sets
Season-high eight kills and .381 hitting percentage at Buffalo
Averaging 1.60 kills per set, along with 88 digs and 45 blocks in her two seasons at RU

#20 - Mira McCool - MB - R-So.

Appeared in 12 matches and 21 sets in her first season after transferring from Georgia Tech
Career-high three blocks in season-finale over Washington, a top-20 RPI team
Posted a pair of kills against Columbia, at #17 Indiana and Washington

KNOW YOUR KNIGHTS - NEWCOMERS

#4 - Karis Willow - OH - Jr.

Transfer from Penn State
Member of the 2024 national championship team
Ranked as the 58th best recruit in the 2023 class by PrepVolleyball.com
Two-time District 8 Player of the Year and three-time all-state selection

#7 - Kami Dyrstad - L/DS - Fr.

Joins sister, senior captain and fellow libero Kenzie Dyrstad on the roster
Class A Player and Libero of the Year at Papillion La Vista South
Helped HS to a 31-9 record
Averaged 5.4 digs per set and posted a .983 reception percentage as a senior

#8 - Skylar George - OH - R-Jr.

Transfer from Utah/Syracuse
Second on the Orange with 296 kills
Led Syracuse with 30 aces
Captured 11 double-digit kill performances in ACC action

#12 - Brooke Baldwin - S - Fr.

Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year
AVCA Second Team All-American
Unanimous Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches First Team All-State
Hamilton High School's all-time assist leader, surpassing 2,000 career assists
Father Pat is an assistant coach with Valparaiso men's basketball program and played at Northwestern, where he was the 1994 Big Ten Player of the Year having scored 1,189 career points and was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a senior, mother Shawn played volleyball at Northwestern and brother Patrick Jr. was a 2022 NBA first-round draft pick by the Golden State Warriors and was the 2019-20 Wisconsin Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year

#13 - Zharia Harris-Waddy - Sr. - MB

New Jersey native and transfer from Syracuse
Led the Orange with 91 total blocks
Career-high 11 blocks versus Notre Dame in 2024 and captured eight blocks last season in matches with Canisius, St. John's and Wake Forest
Holds Lawnside HS record with 23 kills in one match

#14 - Addison Wiemann - Fr. - OH

Seven-time USA Volleyball NTDP invitee
5A Offensive Player of the Year
Amassed 100 attempts in 2025 5A state championship match, tying for 13th all-time in state history for a five-game match with 38 kills
5A NW Offensive Player of the Region in basketball

#17 - Malia Romes - Fr. - MB

Putnam County League Player of the Year
First Team All-Ohio
Four-time First Team All-Putnam County League
Qualified for states in track & field

SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE

The Mastodons went 3-26 overall and 1-7 in Horizon League play last year.
Junior Riley Rosneck, a 2025 Second Team All-Horizon League and 2024 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, led last year's attack with 3.89 kills per set to go along with 14 aces and 2.17 digs per set.
Last year's primary setter, sophomore Haiden Means, also returns after directing the offense to the tune of 8.14 assists per set while leading Purdue Fort Wayne with 24 aces and a team second-best 2.47 digs per set.
The Mastondons' top blocker also returns in junior Mya Plemons, who totaled 107 last year on eight solo and 99 assisted stops.
Senior libero Becky Barrett also returns after leading the team with 4.75 digs per set.

SCOUTING BELLARMINE

The Knights have a familiar face on the bench in graduate assistant coach Madyson Chitty. Chitty was a Scarlet Knight libero from 2020-2023, finishing her fourth in rally-era career digs with 1,294 and fourth in Rutgers' rally era career digs per set, averaging 3.23 over her career. She also amassed 273 assists, 58 service aces and five kills in her career.
Senior Natalie Bland returns to lead the offense after leading Bellarmine with 3.14 kills per set a year ago.
Bellarmine will be looking at a new primary setter with jreturningbero Payton Parson returning as the top performer in assists with 0.97 per set last season. In addition to her team-leading 26 aces, Parson also led the Knights defensively with 3.95 digs per set.
Senior Erika Smith also returns as the squad's top blocker, having put away 86 stops last year, including 12 solo blocks.

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE

The Purple Aces went 6-22 overall and 2-14 in the Missouri Valley last year.
Senior Holland Morris is Evansville's top returnee offensively after posting a team-second-best 2.13 kills per set last season.
Senior Lexi Owen is also back after putting up a team-second-best 4.95 assists per set.
Defensively, junior Sabrina Ripple returns to the net having led the Purple Aces with 84 blocks, including 11 solo denials.

RUTGERS ON THE RISE

Take a look at the climb during the Caitlin Schweihofer Era of Rutgers volleyball.

- 2025 -
Rutgers surpassed its win total from the previous season nine games into the year, fueled by a seven-match win streak, the longest for the squad since 2012. The Scarlet Knights collected sweeps in six of the seven games. Against the Red Flash, RU swung .456, marking the best hitting percentage by the Scarlet Knights in a rally-era match. In nonconference action, RU played to a 9-3 mark with seven sweeps and a 4-0 home mark. In Big Ten action, the Scarlet Knights set not only a school record for attendance, but the 8,000 to witness the Scarlet Knights take on No. 1 Nebraska at Jersey Mike's Arena marked the largest crowd to watch a volleyball match in the state of New Jersey. RU also picked up its first-ever Big Ten win over Ohio State as the sweep marked the most by the program since 2000 and the first time in either Big East or Big Ten play that the Scarlet Knights have held an opponent to under 20 in a match. At the end of the 2025 season, Rutgers had captured the best hitting percentage and most aces of any team during the rally era and had Lexi Visintine set the rally-era season record in aces, becoming only the second Scarlet Knight of the rally era with over 100 career aces. In Big Ten action, the Scarlet Knights posted the most assists and aces in a season since joining the league, with Lily Bolen averaging the most assists per set in a Big Ten season. Additional season stat notables included Visinstine with the most aces since 1988, Aspen Maxwell with the most kills per set since 2009, Natalie Robinson with the best hitting percentage since 2011, Bolen with the most assists and assists per set since 2012, and Maxwell with the most kills since 2013.

- 2024 -
A youthful Scarlet Knight squad continued to rewrite the Rutgers record book, putting up several notable career and season numbers as the Big Ten expanded to the West Coast. On the attack, Alissa Kinkela, the squad's first-ever All-Big Ten attacker from 2023 and an Australian Olympic hopeful, cracked the top 10 all-time in career kills, the second most rally-era career kills and the third most rally-era career kills per set. Following the season, Kinkela signed to play professionally in South Korea. In addition to Kinkela's mark in the record book, Rutgers put nine entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records, with a new benchmark set for blocks in a rally-era season from rookie Natalie Robinson. At the same time, junior Lexi Visintine was just two aces shy of setting a new season standard in the category.

- 2023 -
More milestones continued for the Scarlet Knight program in 2023. The team was honored with its first-ever All-Big Ten attacker, captured the most wins and best nonconference record since 2012, improved its set win total by 45% over the previous season and set a school record in attendance. The Scarlet Knights collected the most kills and digs as a program since 2012, the highest serve percentage since 2016 and the most assists since 2018. Alissa Kinkela, who led the team in kills, was named Second Team All-Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights placed 12 entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records, 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. Senior libero Madyson Chitty finished her career fifth all-time in career digs and senior middle blocker Kristina Grkovic concluded her career fifth all-time in hitting percentage while setting the rally-era record for solo blocks in a season and career. Rutgers improved its attendance by 50% while setting a program record of 6,757 in attendance at Jersey Mike's Arena when facing No. 1 Nebraska on Nov. 5. Additionally, head coach Caitlin Schweihofer registered her 100th career victory.

- 2022 -
The fall of 2022 saw RU 3-0 for the first time since 1998, with four Scarlet Knights named to All-Tournament squads. By the season's end, Rutgers had 11 entries on the rally-era season leaders list, including tying the record for most kills in a rally-era three-set match and graduate student transfer Megan Vernon, who wrapped up her career ranked second in the rally era in solo blocks in only two seasons as a Scarlet Knight.

- 2021 -
The second season of the Caitlin Schweihofer era saw the Scarlet Knights move a majority of its home games to Jersey Mike's Arena (formerly known as The RAC), playing members of the nation's top conference in the 8,000-seat arena. Rutgers captured set wins over #8 Purdue and #15 Penn State and took Illinois to five sets in front of a national audience on BTN.

- SPRING 2021 -
In Caitlin Schweihofer's first season "On The Banks", played in the spring due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights established themselves as a program on the rise with numerous program and Big Ten firsts. Among the Scarlet Knights' spring 2021 accomplishments were the first-ever All-Big Ten honoree, the first-ever home-opening Big Ten victory, the first-ever Big Ten series sweep, set victories over more than one Top 10 program, along with the team's first-ever wins over Indiana and Michigan State. RU established new team, season and match records for aces, reset program Big Ten game bests in kills, attempts, attack percentage and assists and collected individual conference superlatives in attack percentage, assists and digs.

STAT NOTABLE WATCH

Rally-Era Career

Lily Bolen needs 366 more assists to climb to third in rally-era career assists past Anna Sudbury (2012-15). She currently has 1,351 career assists.
Lily Bolen needs four more aces to move into eighth in rally-era career aces past Kristina Grkovic (2020-23). She currently has 69 career aces.
Natalie Robinson needs two more solo blocks to move into sixth past Inna Balyko (2018-12) and six more to move into the top five, surpassing Alex Jones (2009-12). She currently has 25 career solo blocks.
Natalie Robinson needs 18 total blocks and 23 block assists to enter the rally-era career top ten. She currently has 192 total and 167 assisted blocks in her career.
Kenzie Dyrstad needs 270 more digs to enter the rally-era top 10. She currently has 443 career digs.
Aspen Maxwell needs 307.5 points to enter the rally-era career top ten. She currently has 450.0 points in her career.

CELEBRATING 50 SEASONS

The Scarlet Knights are celebrating 50 seasons of Rutgers volleyball in 2026 and will honor all letterwinners during homecoming weekend with a letterwinner open practice and football pregame tailgate on Saturday, Oct. 4 and letterwinner pregame reception and in-match recognition prior to RU taking on Indiana in front of the BTN cameras on Sunday, Oct. 5. Click here to RSVP.

UP NEXT

Rutgers gears up for the first-ever Big Ten/SEC Challenge, taking on Arkansas on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. Games will be streamed by SECN+.

Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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