Volleyball Powers Back For Five-Set Victory At Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Rutgers volleyball went to five for the second-straight match, but this time it was the Scarlet Knights emerging with the victory.

RU opened Friday night’s match with the Iowa Hawkeyes at Xtreme Arena with a 25-21 victory, but the hosts came back to take a 2-1 lead behind 26-24 and 25-21 set victories. The Scarlet Knights powered back with a 25-21 fourth set win and sealed the victory 15-9 in the deciding set.

The win improves the Scarlet Knights to 10-11 overall and 2-9 in the Big Ten. Iowa, meanwhile, drops to 8-15 overall and 0-11 in the Big Ten.

• Rutgers had four Scarlet Knights in double-figure kills, five in double-figure digs and two with double-doubles.
• Redshirt sophomore Alissa Kinkela led the attack with 19 kills and 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the year and also added six blocks.
• Fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar posted double-double number nine of the season behind a career-high 58 helpers and 20 digs. Her 20 digs were the most as a Scarlet Knight.
• Senior Madyson Chitty notched a career-high 28 digs as Rutgers totaled 96, the second most in a game of the rally era.
• On the block, freshman Zora Hardison logged a season-high eight stops, including three solo blocks.

• Set 1 (25-21) | Rutgers scored the first four points and played its way to an 8-2 advantage to open. A Kristina Grkovic swing gave RU a 12-7 lead that the Hawkeyes were able to narrow down to a point. With a 5-2 run Iowa trailed 12-11, but Rutgers responded outscoring the hosts 6-2 including kills from four different Knights to bump its lead to six and never trail. Alissa Kinkela put away five kills, while Grkovic hit .429 with three kills on seven attempts and Zora Hardison captured three points on three swings.

• Set 2 (24-26) | Rutgers powered out to a 9-4 lead capped by five unanswered points including a pair of kills by Alissa Kinkela but the Hawkeyes were able to come back to knot the frame at 13-13.  While the Scarlet Knights took back the lead with three of the next four points involving kills by rookies Zora Hardison and Anna Hartman, an 8-2 Iowa run put the hosts ahead 22-18. RU, however, rallied late outscoring the Hawkeyes 6-2 to tie the frame. Back-to-back Alissa Kinkela kills put the score at 24-24. The Hawkeyes, however, were able to even the match with the next…