Thursday, October 29
West Lafayette, Ind.
7:00 PM
Rutgers
at
Purdue
Photo by: Bianca Borja
Oct 27 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J.Ā ā Rutgers volleyball is back to conference action on the road as the Scarlet Knights travel to meet #12 Purdue on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at Holloway Gymnasium and Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. (ET) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Both matches will be streamed on B1G+.
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Individual Rally-Era Career
Individual Rally-Era Season
Class Records
Take a look at the climb during the Caitlin Schweihofer Era of Rutgers volleyball.
- 2026 -
Rutgers entered Big Ten action with a 9-3 nonconference record for the second-straight season, tying for the most nonconference victories of the Caitlin Schweihofer Era. During nonconference action, Zharia Harris WaddyĀ hit .833 (10-0-12) against Rider to set a new Rutgers record in hitting percentage, besting the previous Rutgers mark of .700 (14-0-20) in a 3-0 win over Cleveland St. on Sept. 10, 2016 by Lauren Cloyd.Ā RU also completed its first reverse sweep since 2022 in a 3-2 win Bryant. The Scarlet Knights opened conference play at #1 Nebraska in its closest match with the Cornhuskers since 2021.Ā Rutgers hit .318 in the first set against a Nebraska defense that was only allowing opponents to hit a nationwide low .081. In the second set, the Scarlet Knights turned a 23-13 deficit into a 9-1 run and thwarted set point four times. RU also topped Ohio State on the road in a sweep for the second-straight season and took a set off #15 Indiana, marking the first set win over a top 25 opponent since 2023 and first set win over a top 15 opponent since 2021.
- 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. Ā 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.Ā
- 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.
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Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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| MATCH DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Jersey Mike's Arena - Piscataway, N.J. |
| Game Notes: | RutgersĀ | Purdue | Northwestern |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Purdue | NorthwesternĀ |Ā Big Ten |
| Schedule: | Thursday, Oct. 29 at #11 Purdue - 7:00 p.m. (ET) Video (BTN+) |Ā Live Stats Saturday, Oct. 31 vs. RV Illinois - 8:00 p.m. (ET) Video (BTN+) |Ā Live Stats Ā |
| Social Media: | Facebook | XĀ | Instagram |
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| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers has played sevenĀ straight opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll and isĀ coming off a 3-1 setback to RV Michigan StateĀ and a 3-0 loss to RV Illinois last weekend at Jersey Mike's Arena. Skylar George captured double-doubles in both of last week's match ups, includingĀ 14 kills and 10 digs against the Spartans and 13 kills and 11 digs versus the Fighting Illini.Ā Ā
- Malia Romes continues to lead the Scarlet Knights with 2.69Ā kills per set, while George is dropping in 2.53 per set and Karis Willow adding 2.18 per set. Romes had led RU in kills in nineĀ contests and reached double-figure kills in 13. George, meanwhile, has six double-doubles this season while leading the Scarlet Knights on the attackĀ seven times with 11 double-figure kill matches, including six of the last eight.
- Setting up the attack are Lily Bolen atĀ 5.40Ā helpers per frame and Brooke Baldwin at 5.35Ā per set in the two-setter system. Bolen also leads the squad in double-doubles with sevenĀ this season, including 19 assists and 11 digs last weekend against the Spartans.Ā
- Bolen is also a Scarlet Knight to watch at the service line and is nearing the 100 career ace mark. Bolen has 27Ā aces to her credit this season, including five served up against Bellarmine and LIU. She is fourĀ aces away from becoming the third Scarlet Knight of the rally era with 100 or more aces in a career. RU will also look to Karis Willow, who is third in the Big Ten with 34 aces,Ā including seven served up against Bellarmine. As a team, Rutgers has served up a Big Ten-leading 146Ā on the season.
- Defensively, Howell leads the block with 78Ā total stops, 17Ā solo blocks and 1.13Ā rejections per set. Howell capturedĀ nine blocks in RU's finalĀ nonconference outing, a 3-2 win at St. John's. Natalie Robinson has put a team-second-best 62 stops.
- RU will also look to Kenzie Dyrstad onĀ defense with her 3.36Ā digs per set and Alleigh Dutton, who has seen significant time at libero in the last five matches, with a season-high eight digs in matches with RV UCLA, #20 Washington, RV Michigan State and RV Illinois. Thursday marks a homecoming for Dutton who hails from West Lafayette, Indiana.
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| SCOUTING PURDUE |
- The Boilermakers welcome the Scarlet Knights with a 13-6 overall and 6-4 mark in Big Ten play. Ranked at No. 11 in this week's AVCA Top 25, Purdue has won five of its last six matches including a five-set win over Minnesota and sweep of Northwestern last weekend at home.
- The attack goes thru Addy Tindall with 3.79 kills per set and Lameen Mammbu at 3.14 kills per set. Setting up the offense is Taylor Anderson at 10.38 assists per set. Elle Schara leads the Boilermakers at the service line with 18 aces, whle Grace Heaney has collected 17 aces and Mary Kate Scheumann has logged 16.
- Defensively, Dior Charles leads at the net with 77 total stops while Ryan McAller leads Purdue with 3.68 digs per frame.
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| SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN |
- The Wildcats enter the week at 7-14 overall and 0-10 in Big Ten action. Northwestern will be at Illinois on Thursday night before returning home to host the Scarlet Knights on Halloween.Ā
- On the attack, the Wildcats are led by Mara Stiglic at 3.55 kills per frame followed by Isabella Bullington at 3.08 per set. Setting up the offense is Ellie Stiernagle with 9.49 assist per set to go along with a team-leading 13 aces.
- The block is led by May a Stilwell with 57 total stops and Lauren Dignan at 3.68 digs per set.
| BIG TEN DISCOVER VOLLEYBALL CHALLENGE |
- The Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network have announced the second year of the Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge.Ā
- Weekend (Saturday/Sunday) conference matches played October 3 ā November 1 will count toward the Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge, with each team playing five designated challenge matches throughout the month, with the winner determined by the highest win total across the five matches. Tiebreaking procedures will be utilized in the event two or more teams have the same win total.
- Rutgers' challenge games include:
- Sunday, Oct. 4 - vs. Indiana - 2 p.m. - B1G+
- Saturday, Oct. 10 - vs.Ā UCLA - 7 p.m. - B1G+
- Sunday, Oct. 18 - at Oregon - 4 p.mĀ -Ā BTN
- Saturday, Oct. 24 - vs.Ā Illinois - 7 p.m.Ā - B1G+
- Saturday, Oct. 31 - at Northwestern - 8 p.m.Ā - B1G+
| STAT NOTABLE WATCH |
Individual Rally-Era Career
- Lily Bolen needs fourĀ more aces to pass Inna Balyko (2018-21) for third in rally-era career aces. She currently has 96Ā career aces.
- Lily Bolen needs 1,628Ā more assists to climb to secondĀ in rally-era career assists past Inna Balyko (2018-21). She currently has 1,771Ā career assists.
- Natalie Robinson needs threeĀ more solo blocks to move into fourth in rally-era career solo blocks, surpassing Mikaela Mattherws (2012-16). She currently has 33Ā career solo blocks.Ā
- Natalie Robinson needs 17Ā blocks to move into sixthĀ on the rally-era career total blocks list past Hannah Curtis (2008-11).Ā She currently has 254Ā career total blocks.
- Natalie Robinson needs 12Ā more block assistsĀ to move into sixth on the rally-era career block assist list, past Hannh Curtis (2008-11). She currently has 220Ā career block assists.
- Kenzie Dyrstad needs 113Ā more digs to move into seventhĀ in rally-era career digs past Beka Kojadinovic (2017-21). She currently has 751Ā career digs.
- Aspen Maxwell needs 134Ā points to enter the rally-era career points top ten. She currently has 623.5Ā points in her career.
Individual Rally-Era Season
- Karis Willow needs fourĀ more aces to move into fourthĀ in rally-era season aces past Jenna DeLaMater (2025) and Lexi Visintine (2024). She currently has 34Ā aces on the season
- Lily Bolen needs sixĀ more aces to join the rally-era season top 10 list for a second time. She currently has 27Ā aces on the season. Her 38 aces as a sophomore in 2025 areĀ third on the list.
- Imani Howell needs two more solo blocks to move into fourthĀ in rally-era season solo blocks past Megan Vernon (2022) and Shealyn McNamara (2021). She currently has 17Ā solo stops on the season.
- Natalie Robinson needs three more solo blocks to move into 10th in the rally-era season solo blocks. She currently has nine solo stops. Robinson already appears twice on the list at tenth with 12 stops in 2025 and eighth with 13 solo blocks in 2024.Ā
Class Records
- Malia Romes needs 13 more kills to join the Rutgers freshman top 10 list in kills. She currently has 22 kills.
- Imani Howell needs four more blocks to join the Rutgers sophomore top 10 list in blocks. She currently has 78 blocks.
- Lily Bolen needs 66 more assists to move into eighth on the Rutgers junior assist list past Aly Borellis (2024). She currently has 454 assists.
- Lily Bolen needs five more aces to join the Rutgers junior top 10 list in aces. She currently has 27 aces.
- Kenzie Dyrstad needs 15 more digs to join the Rutgers senior top 10 list in digs. She currently has 272.
- Karis Willow needs two more aces to move into fifth on the Rutgers senior aces list past Sherri Kujawa (1998) and four more to move into fourth on the list past Courtney Stout (2005). She currently has 34 aces.Ā Ā
| RUTGERS ON THE RISE |
Take a look at the climb during the Caitlin Schweihofer Era of Rutgers volleyball.
- 2026 -
Rutgers entered Big Ten action with a 9-3 nonconference record for the second-straight season, tying for the most nonconference victories of the Caitlin Schweihofer Era. During nonconference action, Zharia Harris WaddyĀ hit .833 (10-0-12) against Rider to set a new Rutgers record in hitting percentage, besting the previous Rutgers mark of .700 (14-0-20) in a 3-0 win over Cleveland St. on Sept. 10, 2016 by Lauren Cloyd.Ā RU also completed its first reverse sweep since 2022 in a 3-2 win Bryant. The Scarlet Knights opened conference play at #1 Nebraska in its closest match with the Cornhuskers since 2021.Ā Rutgers hit .318 in the first set against a Nebraska defense that was only allowing opponents to hit a nationwide low .081. In the second set, the Scarlet Knights turned a 23-13 deficit into a 9-1 run and thwarted set point four times. RU also topped Ohio State on the road in a sweep for the second-straight season and took a set off #15 Indiana, marking the first set win over a top 25 opponent since 2023 and first set win over a top 15 opponent since 2021.
- 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. Ā 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.Ā
- 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.
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| AT THE NET |
- Watch the BTN "At The Net" feature on junior setter Lily Bolen on setting standards on and off the court with her commitment to giving back and helping Rutgers earn the 2026 NACDA Community Service Award.
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| SISTER-SISTER |
- Nebraska natives Kenzie and Kami Dyrstad are among the 10 teams featuring siblings in the same program.Ā
| School | Sister #1 | Sister #2 |
| Rutgers | Kenzie Dyrstad (senior - L/DS) | Kami Dyrstad (freshman - L/DS) |
| St. John's | Kya Harris (junior - MB) | Sumaiyya Harris (freshman - MB/OPP) |
| Fresno State | Olivia Lombardi (r-junior - L) | Gabby Lombardi (r-sophomore S) |
| IU Indy | Kate White (senior - OPP) | Lauren White (freshman- S) |
| Louisiana Tech | Anaya Hairston (senior - MB) | Gabrielle Hairston (junior - OH/RS) |
| Montana | Sydney Pierce (junior - MB) | Brooklyn Pierce (freshman - MB) |
| Northern Iowa | Molly Shafer (sophomore - OH/OPP) | Kate Shafer (sophomore - S) |
| Niagara | Chloe Moreland (sophomore - OH) | Ashley Moreland (freshman - L/DS) |
| Rice | Arissa Smith (senior - MB) | Aaliyah Smith (sophomore - OH) |
| Virginia | Sarah Brodner (junior - OH/RS) | Ella Brodner (freshman - OH/RS) |
| UP NEXT |
- Rutgers volleyball returnsĀ home to host MichiganĀ on Thursday, Nov. 5Ā at 7 p.m. andĀ USCĀ on Saturday, Nov. 7Ā at 1Ā p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena.Ā Ā Click here to purchase tickets.Ā Ā
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
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