Thursday, October 1
Columbus, Ohio
7:00 PM
Rutgers
at
Ohio State
Photo by: Joe Cucinotta
Volleyball Travels To Ohio State On Thursday & Hosts #15 Indiana On Sunday
Sep 29 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J.Ā ā Rutgers volleyball starts off the week on the road at Ohio StateĀ and wraps up homecoming weekend at homeĀ versus #15 Indiana.
The Scarlet Knights meet the Buckeyes on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Covelli Center and return home to celebrate 50 years of Rutgers volleyball when they meet the nationally-ranked Hoosiers on Sunday, Oct. 4 in front of the BTN cameras at Jersey Mike's Arena at 2 p.m.
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Rally-Era Career
Rally-Era Season
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.
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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The Scarlet Knights meet the Buckeyes on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Covelli Center and return home to celebrate 50 years of Rutgers volleyball when they meet the nationally-ranked Hoosiers on Sunday, Oct. 4 in front of the BTN cameras at Jersey Mike's Arena at 2 p.m.
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| MATCH DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Covelli Center - Columbus, Ohio | Jersey Mike's Arena - Piscataway, N.J. |
| Tickets:Ā | Rutgers Volleyball Ticket Central |
| Parking: | Green & Yellow Lots -Ā Parking Registration Link Coming Soon |
| Indiana Match Promos: | * Free Ticket With Indiana Football Ticket at Box Office * Commemorative 50 Seasons Ticket (while supplies last) * 50 Seasons/Letterwinner Celebration * Post Match Autographs on concourse |
| Game Notes: | RutgersĀ | Ohio State | Indiana |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Ohio State | IndianaĀ |Ā Big Ten |
| Schedule: | Thursday, Oct. 1 at Ohio State - 7:00 p.m. (ET) Video (B1G+) |Ā Live Stats Sunday, Oct. 4 vs. #15 Indiana - 2:00 p.m. (ET) BTN Channel Finder | Fox Sports App |Ā Live Stats Ā |
| Social Media: | Facebook | XĀ | Instagram |
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| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers enters the week at 9-5 overall and looking for its first Big Ten win of the season after opening last weekend at #1 Nebraska and Iowa. The Scarlet Knights had their closest match with the Cornhuskers since 2021, when RU took a frame from the five-time national champions, in a 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 loss. Rutgers saw two late surges inĀ sets one and two, hitting .318 against a Nebraska defense that was only allowing opponents to hit a nation-low .081 in set one and using a 9-1 run and thwarting set point fiveĀ times in set two. At Iowa the following evening, Lily Bolen collected her fifth double-double of the season and 18th of her career behind 14 assists and 11 digs in a 25-16, 25-23, 25-21 loss.
- Entering the second week of conference play, Rutgers as a team is ranked in the top three in the Big Ten in total aces and aces per set, team assists, teamĀ kills, total attempts and total blocks. RU's 113 aces on the season are eighth nationally and lead the league. Ranking individually among the conference's top ten are Karis Willow and Lily Bolen (total aces & aces per set), Imaini Howell (total blocks & blocks per st) and Kenzie Dyrstad (total digs).
- On the offense, the Scarlet Knights are led by freshman Malia Romes with 2.52 kills per frame and transfer Skylar George at 2.45Ā kills per frame. George, who in addition to her career-high 22 against Bryant in the final nonconference week, posted a pair of double-doubles with 22 kills and 15 digs vs. the BulldogsĀ and 13 kills and 14 digs against St. John's. Romes, meanwhile, has reached double-digit kills in eight of RU's 14Ā matches, including 14 in her Scarlet Knight debut vs. Purdue Fort Wayne and against Vanderbilt during the Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge.
- Setting up the attack are Brooke Baldwin at 5.54Ā assists per set and Lily Bolen atĀ 5.24Ā helpers per frame.
- Bolen is also a Scarlet Knight to watch at the service line and is nearing the 100 career ace mark. Bolen has 25Ā aces to her credit this season, including five served up against Bellarmine and LIU. She is sixĀ 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 has 30Ā aces to date, including seven served up against Bellarmine. Willow leads the Big Ten in total aces with 30 and is second in aces per set, averaging 0.67, behind Minnesota's Mckenna Wecherer. RU leads the Big Ten with 113 aces served up.Ā Ā
- Defensively, Imani Howell leads the block with 61Ā total stops, 10 solo blocks and 1.33 rejections per set. Howell capturedĀ nine blocks in RU's finalĀ nonconference outing, a 3-2 win at St. John's.
- Dyrstad also leads the defense with 3.79Ā digs per set, leading RU in the category in all but one match this season and is close to cracking the Rutgers rally-era career top 10 with 676 total to date. She recorded a career-high 23 digs in theĀ nonconference final at St. John's.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
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| SCOUTING OHIO STATE |
- The Buckeyes welcome the Scarlet Knights with an 8-4 overall record and 1-1 mark in the Big Ten. OSU opened last weekend with a 3-1 win at Iowa before falling in straight sets at #1 Nebraska.
- The attack is led by Naomy Govou with 3.61 kills per set and Hannah Jones at 3.02 kills per frame. Bailey Nakanelua and Mia Tuman direct the attack with 9.93 and 9.12 assists per set, respectively. At the service line, Alia Schoonover has captured 18 aces.
- Schoonover also leads the Buckeyes at the net with 41 blocks, averaging 0.84 per set, while Emily Avshalomov averages 3.86 digs per set.Ā
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| SCOUTING INDIANA |
- The Hoosiers enter the week on a seven-match win streak at 9-2 overall . Indiana and won itsĀ first two Big Ten matches with straight-set home wins over UCLA, a squad receiving votes in the top 25, and Maryland. Indiana will take on #6 Wisconsin in Madison on Thursday night before making its way to New Jersey.
- On the stat sheet, Jaidyn Jage leads the offense with 3.92 kills per set followed by Avry Tatum at 3.33 per set. Teodora Krickovic aids the attack to the tune of 10.79 assists per set and also leads the Hoosiers with 19 aces.
- At the net, Keondreya Granberry has totaled 44 blocks to average 1.26 rejections per frame. Hannah Leftridge contributes to the defense with a team-leading 3.26 digs per set.
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| ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS |
- In the final nonconference weekend in matches with Bryant, Penn and St. John's, Skylar George and Kenzie Dyrstad were named to the Jack Kaiser Classic All-Tournament Team.
- In being named to the All-Tournament Team, George averaged 2.86 kills and 2.71 digs per set, including a career-high 22 kills in the win over Bryant, and Dyrstad posted 3.93 digs per set on the weekend, including a career-high 23 against St. John's.
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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) |
| RUTGERS RECORDS |
- In the 3-0 nonconference home finale victory over Rider back on Sept. 12, Zharia Harris-Waddy hit .833 (10-0-12) to set a new Rutgers record in hitting percentage. Ā She bested the previous Rutgers mark of .700 (14-0-20) in a 3-0 win over Cleveland St. on Sept. 10, 2016 by Lauren Cloyd. Harris-Waddy's mark is tied for the seventh-best hitting percentage with 10-14 attempts in a match this season in Division I , eighth among all DI players withĀ 10 or more attempts in match and the best in a match amongĀ the Big Ten to date.Ā Ā
| STAT NOTABLE WATCH |
Rally-Era Career
- Lily Bolen needs oneĀ more aceĀ to take sole possession of fourth in rally-era career aces past Ronnie Komisarek (2012-15) and sixĀ more to pass Inna Balyko (2018-21) for third. She currently has 94Ā career aces.
- Lily Bolen needs 83Ā more assists to climb to third in rally-era career assists past Anna Sudbury (2012-15). She currently has 1,634Ā 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 10Ā blocks to move into seventhĀ on the rally-era career total blocks list, past Alex Jones (2009-12).Ā She currently has 241Ā career total blocks.
- Natalie Robinson needs six more block assistsĀ to move into eighth on the rally-era career block assist list past Alissa Kinkela (2021-24). She currently has 207Ā career block assists.
- Kenzie Dyrstad needs 37Ā more digs to enter the rally-era top 10. She currently has 676Ā career digs.
- Aspen Maxwell needs 184Ā points to enter the rally-era career points top ten. She currently has 573.5Ā points in her career.
Rally-Era Season
- Karis Willow needs two more aces to join the rally-era season top 10 list. She currently has 30 aces on the season
- Lily Bolen needs seven more aces to join the rally-era season top 10 list for a second time. She currently has 25 aces on the season. Her 38 aces as a sophomore in 2025 is third on the list.
- Imani Howell needs two more solo blocks to move into eighth in rally-era season solo blocks past teammate Natalie Robinson (2024) and Hannah Curtis (2011). She currently has 12 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
| 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.
| 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.
- 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 continues matches at Jersey Mike's Arena, taking on #20 Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 9, and UCLA on Saturday, Oct. 10. Both matches are set for a 7 p,m. start.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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L/DS
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L/DS
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