Volleyball Reverse Sweeps Bryant, Falls To Penn In Four

Friday, September 18

Queens, N.Y.

10:00 AM

Rutgers

8-2,0-0Big Ten

Bryant

5-9,0-0America East

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Rutgers	17	23	25	27	15	3
Bryant	25	25	12	25	10	2

Box Score (PDF)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Rutgers	23	21	25	22	1
Penn	25	25	17	25	3

Aspen Maxwell on the attack against Stony Brook at Jersey Mike's Arena

Photo by: Bianca Borja

Volleyball Reverse Sweeps Bryant, Falls To Penn In Four

Sep 18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score - Match 1 - Bryant Box Score - Match 2 - Penn

QUEENS, N.Y. -- Rutgers volleyball split the opening day of the Jack Kaiser Classic hosted by St. John's at Carnesecca Arena on Friday.

In the opening contest, the Scarlet Knights overcame a two-set deficit to reverse sweep Bryant. After the Bulldogs took the first two frames, 25-17 and 25-23, RU powered back behind 25-12, 27-25 and 15-10 set wins.

In the nightcap, Rutgers fell behind, dropping the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21. Hoping to pull off another come-from-behind victory, the Scarlet Knights came back to take set three 25-17. The four set endured 15 ties and seven lead changes, but it would ultimately be the Quakers emerging with a 25-22 fourth set win to top RU 3-1.

Rutgers 3, Bryant 2

Volleyball victory graphic over Bryant featuring Skylar George

STANDOUT STATS

Rutgers completed its first reverse sweep since a 17-25, 25-27, 25-13, 25-20, 15-7 win over Michigan State back on September 25, 2022.
Skylar George and Lily Bolen collected double-doubles together in a match for a second time this season. George put away a career-high 22 kills, besting her previous high of 19 against Siena back on Sept. 12, 2024, and a season-high 15 digs. Bolen, meanwhile, put up 23 assists and 10 digs while adding a match-high four aces. For George, it was her second double-double of the year and 13^th of her career, while for Bolen it was her third double-double of the season and 15^th of her career.
George and Bolen also combined for seven of RU's 10 aces. Bolen led the way with four aces, marking her fourth match of the season with three or more aces. She also moved into fifth on the rally-era career aces list with 92 in her three seasons.
Malia Romes, who notched match point, was also in double-figure kills with 11, while Brooke Baldwin added 25 assists.
Kenzie Dyrstad was one dig shy of tying her career-high, coming up with a season and match-high 19 digs.
Rutgers posted a season-high 16 blocks with Natalie Robinson making eight stops, Aspen Maxwell coming up with six rejections and Imani Howell recording five blocks.

KEY MOMENTS

SET 1 (17-25) | Bryant took the first set, taking over the lead after four straight points put the Bulldogs in front 8-4. A Zharia Harris-Waddy swing saw RU trail, 20-16, causing a Bulldog timeout, but Bryant came out of the break, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 5-1 to take the frame. Bryant hit its best of the day at .306. Skylar George, meanwhile, led Rutgers with four kills.

SET 2 (23-25) | The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead after collecting the final five points of the frame. Bryant had an early 6-2 lead, which Rutgers cut to a point after Aspen Maxwell and Natalie Robinson teamed up at the net for the Scarlet Knights to trail 11-10. The Bulldogs still led at the midway point up 15-12, when Rutgers took the lead with a 7-2 burst. Romes had a pair of kills during the run and back-to-back kills from George forced a Bryant timeout with RU up 19-17. Romes pushed the Scarlet Knights out to a 22-20 edge, but the Bulldogs managed the final five points. George and Romes combined for 10 of RU's 17 kills.

SET 3 (25-12) | Bryant had three-straight points for a 3-2 edge, but that would be the final string of Bulldog points the rest of the way. Rutgers, meanwhile, flipped the script with a 10-2 run and never looked back. After hitting only .109 through the match's first two sets, RU hit at a .333 clip, committing only one error on 21 attacks. Bryant, meanwhile, logged 10 miscues. Lily Bolen served up three of her four aces on the morning, while Karis Willow and George had three kills apiece.

SET 4 (27-25) | The Bulldogs had a chance for the victory, but the Scarlet Knights did not back down, thwarting match point four times and extending play. Bryant led 24-20 as Avery Jesewitz and Natalie Robinson teamed up at the net to stop the first match point and Jesewitz joined Imani Howell on the stop on the following point. Kenzie Dyrstad got the tape tickler to keep the Scarlet Knights in the match down 24-23 and Malia Romes swung away to knot the score at 25-25. A solo block from Howell set up set point for Rutgers, while a Bryant miscue gave the Scarlet Knights the frame. George contributed four kills and Robinson made three stops in the stanza.

SET 5 (15-10) | A string of four unanswered points capped by an ace from George put RU in the driver's seat with the Scarlet Knights leading 8-5. Bryant would only pull within a pair of points. The Bulldogs trailed 11-9 when RU closed out the match on a 4-1 run. George posted six kills on nine swings while Maxwell added a pair of blocks. RU hit .381 in the final frame.

Penn 3, Rutgers 1

STANDOUT STATS

Aspen Maxwell swung for a season-high 16 kills on 24 attacks with only one error to finish the evening, hitting a career-best .625.
Natalie Robinson joined Maxwell in double-digit kills with 10, also with only one error, and hit .310 to go along with four blocks.
Lily Bolen performed her second-straight double-double behind 18 assists and 10 digs. It marked her fourth double-double of the season and 16^th of her career.
Brooke Baldwin aided the attack with 23 helpers and Skylar George served up a trio of aces.
Defensively, RU was led at the net with five blocks, including a pair of solo stops, from Imani Howell while Kenzie Dyrstad collected 13 kills.

KEY MOMENTS

SET 1 (23-25) | At the midway point of the opening frame, Penn led 15-12, but Rutgers responded with a 5-1 run capped by a solo block from Natalie Robinson to go in front 18-17. From there, the set was tied up four times as Imani Howell and Aspen Maxwell teamed up at the net to even it up at 20-20. The Quakers, however, won the next three points to pull ahead. A kill from Skylar George pulled the Scarlet Knights within a point, down 24-23, but a service error gave Penn the opener. George, Robinson and Howell led RU with three kills each.

SET 2 (21-25) | The Quakers never trailed and opened with a 7-2 lead. Rutgers, however, whittled away that five-point deficit down to one late. Lily Bolen's ace had the Scarlet Knights trail 20-19, but Penn managed to close on a 5-2 run. Malia Romes delivered five kills, hitting .400.

SET 3 (25-17) | RU connected for a .484 clip on the attack with 16 kills on 31 attempts and fired off only one miscue. Maxwell led the way, hitting 600 in the win with six kills on 10 attacks and Karis Williow and Robinson notched three apiece. After a Romes swing evened the set early at 3-3, the Scarlet Knights went on a tear, outscoring the Quakers 13-3 into the midway break. A Robinson blast down the middle gave RU a 17-7 advantage and a Penn error saw Rutgers ahead 23-13.

SET 4 (22-25) | Fifteen ties and seven lead changes occurred as Rutgers fell just short of making it a back-to-back five-set win day. Neither team held more than a two-point advantage until Penn went on a late 5-0 run to pull ahead for good. Aspen Maxwell delivered her 16^th kill of the match to put RU up 20-19, but the Quakers followed making their run. A George kill stopped the Scarlet Knight drought, while a rejection at the net from the hands of Willow and Robinson saw RU trail 24-22. Penn, however, won the match on a kill from Adell Murray. Maxwell continued her hot hitting in the final frame with five kills on seven attempts

UP NEXT

Rutgers volleyball wraps up the Jack Kaiser Classic with host St. John's on Sunday at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

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