Volleyball Edged Out In Five At Michigan

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Rutgers volleyball took two sets from Michigan for the first time in program history, but the Wolverines came back to take the match in five sets at Cliff Keen Arena on Sunday evening.

The Scarlet Knights won both sets one and two 25-22, but Michigan avoided the sweep with their own 25-22 win in set three.  The Wolverines forced a deciding set after a 25-17 victory in set four. The fifth set saw 12 ties and four lead changes. RU had two opportunities at match point, but Michigan completed the comeback with a 17-15 victory in the final set.

• Redshirt junior Alissa Kinkela became the seventh Scarlet Knights of the rally era to reach the 800 career kills mark. The Melbourne, Australia product did so behind 24 kills and a .432 hitting percentage. She also added 14  digs, one shy of her career mark, for her third double-double of the season and 10^th of her career.
• Sophomore Zora Hardison captured a career-high in kills with 15 besting her previous high of 10 set earlier this season against Little Rock.
• Sophomore Kenzie Dyrstad set a new career mark in aces with four surpassing her previous best of of three against Illinois back on Oct. 22, 2023.
• Junior Aly Borellis collected her first Scarlet Knight double-double logging a season-high 51 assists and 10 digs. It was her 19^th career double-double.
• Freshman Natalie Robinson was behind six of RU’s 12 blocks, including a pair of solo stops.

• SET 1 (25-22) | Rutgers won a set in Ann Arbor for the first time since 2015. Alissa Kinkela hit .400 in the frame with four kills, including career kill No. 800, with Aly Borellis collecting assists on 11 of RU’s 12 kills. Michigan called time following an Alleigh Dutton ace as Rutgers played out to a 10-6 lead to start the match. After trading points, RU poured on another four consecutive points, including a solo stop from Anna Hartman to extend its lead to a set-high seven points at 15-8. The Wolverines pushed back with a 5-1 run to close the gap to 16-13. The Scarlet Knights went back up by six, but Michigan kept the set close with another 5-1 outpouring as RU remained in front at 22-20. Back-to-back kills had the Wolverines within a point, but the Scarlet Knights got the win behind a Hartman swing and Lexi Visintine’s second ace of the match.

The Scarlet Knights…