Volleyball Finishes Nonconference With Five Set Setback to Princeton

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers volleyball closed out nonconference action on Friday night with a five-set setback to Princeton at the College Ave Gym.

After the Tigers took set one, 25-23, the Scarlet Knights roared back with 25-12 and 25-16 victories. Princeton, however, forced the deciding set after a 25-19 win and took the match 15-12.

Rutgers ends nonconference play at 8-2 overall, its best nonconference record since 2012. Princeton improved to 3-5 overall.

• Three Scarlet Knights finished not only in double-figure kills but a pair captured career highs as well. Senior Kristina Grkovic led with a match-high 16 kills hitting at a .469 clip with only one error in 32 attacks. Sophomore Bekah Williams notched 14 kills including seven in the third set victory and hit .444 on the night. 
• Redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela put away 13 kills tying her season best and came up with her first career double-double by adding 11 digs.
• Kinkela also captured a career-high in aces serving up six of RU’s 10 in the match.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar collected her fourth double-double of the year behind 45 assists and a match-high 17 digs.
• Rutgers came up with 13 blocks led by four from Grkovic.
• Senior Madyson Chitty posted her 1,000th career dig becoming the 10th Scarlet Knight to join the club.

• Set 1 (23-25) | Rutgers narrowed a five-point deficit to trail 23-22, but the opening frame went to Princeton. The set endured 12 ties before the Tigers took a 20-15 advantage. The Scarlet Knights outscored Princeton 7-3 to close within a point capped by one of Kristina Grkovic’s set-leading six kills. The Tigers, however, stayed in front for the 1-0 lead. Grkovic hit .750 with no errors on eight attacks. Madyson Chitty posted her 1,000 career dig in the set. 

• Set 2 (25-12) | The Scarlet Knights responded by coming out of the gate in the second frame taking a 7-1 lead. While Princeton came out of a timeout with five straight points to reduce its deficit to a point, RU never lost the lead. The Tigers would end up committing nine errors on the attack and hit in the negative while the Scarlet Knights connected on a .368 clip and closed out the set on an 8-0 run. Alissa Kinkela put away a trio of aces and collected a pair of kills. 

• Set 3 (25-16) | Rutgers went out to…