Rutgers volleyball loses both weekend matches, extends losing streak to nine
The disappointing stretch for the Rutgers women’s volleyball team continued this past weekend as it dropped its eighth and ninth consecutive games against No. 14 Penn State and No. 6 Ohio State on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Despite winning 7 of their first 10 games, the Scarlet Knights (8-11, 0-8) sit in second-to-last place of the Big Ten standings, with only Iowa trailing them.
In its Friday game, Rutgers faced an early deficit, losing the first two sets to the Nittany Lions (13-5, 6-2), before battling back to take the third set, 25-22. The Knights’ set win marked their first set taken off of Penn State since 2001. It was also just their second set won in conference play this season.
After the brief victory, the Nittany Lions started off the fourth frame with 6 straight points and never looked back, as they went on to win the set 25-18, along with the match.
The following day, the Buckeyes (16-2, 6-2) began the game on a 8-0 run and went on to sweep Rutgers, marking the eighth time the team has been swept this season. The Knights played a competitive second set, in which they trailed 22-19 late into the frame, though they eventually lost 25-20.
As a team, Rutgers hit 0.122 combined in both games, while Penn State and Ohio State hit a combined 0.342. Both opponents also totaled nearly twice as many kills as the Knights at 116-60.
Rutgers’ individual leaders for the weekend included senior right side hitter Beka Kojadinovic with 19 kills, senior setter Inna Balyko with 41 assists and 11 blocks and sophomore libero Madyson Chitty with 27 digs.
The Knights will have a quick turnaround this week, as their next matchup is set for Wednesday night in College Park against Maryland, followed by a game on Sunday in Bloomington against Indiana.
Rutgers’ game against the Hoosiers (8-12, 2-6) will mark the final match of what has been a four-game road trip, coming back home to Piscataway on Oct. 29 for what will be the first of a four-game homestand.
For updates on the Rutgers volleyball team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
