Friday, September 18
Queens, N.Y.
10:00 AM
Rutgers
vs
Bryant
Photo by: Bianca Borja
Volleyball Heads Into Final Nonconference Weekend
Sep 16 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J.Ā ā Rutgers volleyball is taking its four-match win streak into its final nonconference weekend. The Scarlet Knights will take on Bryant, Penn and host St. John's in the Jack Kaiser Invitational at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York.
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Rally-Era Career
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. 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.
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 a letterwinner pregame reception and in-match recognition prior to RU taking on Indiana in front of the BTN cameras on Sunday, Oct. 5.Ā Click here to RSVP.
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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| MATCH DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Carnesecca Arena - Queens, N.Y. |
| Game Notes: | RutgersĀ | Bryant | Penn | St. John's |
| Statistics: | Rutgers |Ā Bryant | Penn | St. John'sĀ |Ā Big Ten |
| Schedule: | Friday, Sept. 18 Rutgers vs. Bryant - 10:00 a.m. Live Stats Rutgers vs. Penn - 4:00 p.m. Live Stats Saturday, Sept. 19 Rutgers at St. John's Video (ESPN+) |Ā Live Stats Ā |
| Social Media: | Facebook | XĀ | Instagram |
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| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers enters its final nonconference weekend at 7-2 overall and opened its home slate last week with four victories. RU downed LIU 3-0 last Tuesday and took a 3-0 win over Stony Brook, a 3-1 victory over Delaware and swept Rider over the weekend.
- In the 3-0 weekend finale victory over Rider, Zharia Harris-Waddy hit .833 (10-0-12) to set a new Rutgers record in hitting percentage. Ā bested the previous Rutgers mark of .700 (14-0-20) in a 3-0 win over Cleveland State on September 10, 2016.Ā It is currently the fourth-best in a match in Division I, behind Alec Rother of Florida's .909 against Troy (10-0-11) and Ella Chapman of UCF against Davidson and Ava Stratton of Youngstown State against Mercyhurst's .857 (12-0-14).
- In the home opener vs. LIU, the Scarlet Knights kept the Sharks to eight points in the first set, marking the fewest points by an opponentĀ in a set going to 25 since a 25-8 second frame win in a sweep of Columbia and a 25-6 third set win over Siena back on August 30, 2017.
- The Scarlet Knights are one of the top threats in the Big Ten and the country at the service line, with Karis Willow having accumulated 21 aces to date, leading the Big Ten in total aces and ranking eighth nationally in aces per set (0.78). Not far behind is Lily Bolen with 19 aces, ranking second in the Big Ten in total aces. Bolen is currently sixth in rally-era career aces and needs one more to move into the top five.
- Looking at the stat sheet, Malia Romes leads RU on the attack at 2.76 kills per set with Harris-Waddy adding 2.45 kills per set and Skylar George notching 2.28 kills per frame.Ā On the block, Imani Howell has totaled a team-leading 36 blocks, while Natalie Robinson, who last week entered the rally-era career solo block top five and rally-era career total block top 10, has collected 26 stops. Additionally, Kenzie Dyrstad is coming up with 3.72 digs per set.
- Both Rutgers and St. John's feature sisters on their rosters and are among the 10 teams featuring siblings in the same program. The Scarlet Knights boast senior libero Kenzie Dyrstad and freshman libero Kami Dyrstad, while the Red Storm features junior middle blocker Kya Harris and freshman middle/opposite Sumaiyya Harris.
- This weekend also features the return of head coach Caitlin Schweihofer to her alma mater. Schweihofer (nee Rimgaila)Ā was the Big East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at St. John's in 2006 as a senior after captaining the Red Storm to a 31-5 overall record and undefeated 14-0 mark as the Big East Champions. St. John's ranked as high as #24 in the national polls and advanced to the NCAA Second Round. A three-time All-Big East pick, SchweihoferĀ graduated in three years with a 3.9 GPA in communication science andĀ was a Second Team All-Big East and a First Team Academic All-District selection in 2006.Ā
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| SCOUTING BRYANT |
- The Bulldogs enter the week at 4-8 overall and will host Manhattan on Wednesday night before meeting the Scarlet Knights. Last weekend, Bryant went 1-3 with a 3-1 victory over Merrimack, a pair of 3-1 losses to Marist and a 3-0 setback to Fordham.
- Offensively, Brant is led by Kaitlin Curran at 2.79 kills per set and Nina Gavin at 2.65 kills per frame and a .300 attack percentage. Additionally, the Bulldogs will look to Madison Keem on the set at 6.62 assists per set and at the line as she enters the week with a team-leading 17 aces.
- On defense, the block is led by Layla Olatunde with 24 total blocks and Carrina Barron with 4.26 digs per set.
| SCOUTING PENN |
- The Quakers enter the week at 5-1 overall. Penn willĀ host Rider on Wednesday and meet St. John's on Friday afternoon before taking on the Scarlet Knights. After opening the season with a five-set loss against Stony Brook, Penn has rattled off five-straight wins, including a 3-1 win over Quinnipiac, a 3-2 win over Rhode Island, and a sweep of Lafayette last weekend.Ā
- Jenna Garner leads the attack with 3.00 kills per set, with Emery Moore directing the offense with 7.83 assists per set. At the line, Ellie Siskin leads the way with nine aces.
- At the net, Haley Kerstetter has totaled 29 blocks with Adell Murray collecting 24 stops and Addison Pollock adds 5.58 digs per set for the defense.
| SCOUTING ST JOHN'S |
- The Red Storm comes into the weekend at 8-2 overall and will meet up with Bryant and Penn on Friday before meeting Rutgers on Saturday. St. John's has won four straight in sweeps over Fordham, Central Connecticut State, NJIT, and Iona.
- On the attack, St. John's will look to Carola Tesoro at 4.43 kills per set and a .325 hitting percentage with Amanda Caputi putting up 6.36 assists per set. Rashanny Solano Smith leads SJU at the line with 15 aces.
- Defensively, the Red Storm isĀ led by Teodora Stamenkovic with 36 blocks, averaging 1.06 per frame and Solano Smith with 5.31 digs per set.
| SISTER-SISTER |
- Both Rutgers and St. John's feature sisters on their rosters and are among the 10 teams featuring siblings in the same program. The Scarlet Knights boast senior libero Kenzie Dyrstad and freshman libero Kami Dyrstad, while the Red Storm feature junior middle blocker Kya Harris and freshman middle/opposite Sumaiyya Harris.
| 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) |
| STAT NOTABLE WATCH |
Rally-Era Career
- Lily Bolen needs 171Ā more assists to climb to third in rally-era career assists past Anna Sudbury (2012-15). She currently has 1,546Ā career assists.
- Lily Bolen needs oneĀ more aceĀ to move into a tie for fifthĀ in rally-era career aces withĀ Kamila Cieslik (2017-21) and sevenĀ more to move into fourth past Ronnie Komisarek (2012-15). She currently has 88Ā career aces.
- Natalie Robinson needs sevenĀ more solo blocks to move into fourth in rally-era career solo blocks, surpassing Mikaela Mattherws (2012-16). She currently has 30Ā career solo blocks.Ā
- Natalie Robinson needs four blocks to move into ninth on the rally-era career total blocks list, past Alissa Kinkela (2021-24). She currently has 218 career total blocks.
- Natalie Robinson needsĀ three more block assists to move into the top 10 on the rally-era career block assists list, past Stasa Miljevic (2017-19). She currently has 188 career block assists.
- Kenzie Dyrstad needs 115Ā more digs to enter the rally-era top 10. She currently has 598Ā career digs.
- Aspen Maxwell needs 229Ā points to enter the rally-era career top ten. She currently has 528.5Ā points in her career.
| 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. 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.
| 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 a letterwinner pregame reception and in-match recognition prior to RU taking on Indiana in front of the BTN cameras on Sunday, Oct. 5.Ā Click here to RSVP.
| SCHEDULE UPDATE |
- Rutgers' match with nationally-ranked USC on Saturday, Nov. 7 has been moved to a 1 p.m. start.
| SEASON & SINGLE GAME TICKETS |
- Season and individual game tickets for 2026 areĀ on saleĀ for Rutgers women's volleyball at Jersey Mike's Arena.
- The Scarlet Knights will welcome 12 opponents to Jersey Mike's Arena this season, featuring nine home dates against Big Ten competition, including contests with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, USC, Michigan and UCLA, who all advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament.
- There will be single admission during RU's home matches and neutral site matchups with Stony Brook, Delaware and Rider on Thursday, Sept. 10, Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12. One ticket gets fans into both games
- Rutgers' home finale with Maryland on Friday, Nov. 13 will be held at the College Avenue Gym and is free admission.
| UP NEXT |
- Rutgers volleyball opens up Big Ten play on the road. The Scarlet Knights kick off conference action atĀ #1 Nebraska on Friday, Sept. 25 and Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 26.Ā Ā
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
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L/DS
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OH
/ Women's VolleyballSunday, September 13
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