Volleyball Gets Back to Winning Ways at Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Temi Thomas-Ailara logged a match-high 19 kills as the Northwestern volleyball team rolled past Rutgers 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-12, 25-16, 25-16) on Friday night.

The conference victory snapped the Wildcats three-match losing skid and improve the team’s record to 14-7 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten action. The Scarlet Knights fell to 7-14 (1-8 B1G).

M?i?d?n?i?g?h?t? Purple Rain in the Garden State ?? pic.twitter.com/IjnRN9i2I2

— Northwestern Volleyball (@NUVball) October 22, 2022

Temi Thomas-Ailara posted her 19 kills on an efficient .357 hitting percentage, and only had four errors on 42 swings. Hanna Lesiak added 12 and Leilani Dodson chipped in with 10 as part of balanced Northwestern attack. First-year Sienna Noordermeer’s and Megan Miller tied for the team lead recording 15 digs each, while Ellee Stinson added 14 more. From the front row, Dodson contributed seven blocks and Lesiak added five rejections. Playing in her third collegiate match, Noorderneer posted a double-double with a career-high 45 assists.

Game Notes

» Ellee Stinson had a match-high two aces in the win.

» Northwestern improved to 9-0 this season when recording nine or more blocks.

» Thomas-Ailara has tallied 15 or more kills in six of the last eight matches.

» The Wildcats are now 12-1 all-time against Rutgers.

» NU’s defense held Rutgers to an .098 hitting percentage, the lowest recored this season by an opponent.

» Dodson posted her fourth double-digit kill match of the year, and second of the season against Rutgers.

‘Cats win the third set and close it out on a 13-2 run ?? pic.twitter.com/rW77UWfgPB

— Northwestern Volleyball (@NUVball) October 21, 2022

How It Happened

SET 1 | The Wildcats grabbed control of the set-one lead at 4-3 and held the lead the rest of the way to win 25-19. Northwestern led by seven points at 17-10 before finishing off the set. got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Rutgers attacks in the stanza.

SET 2 | Northwestern lost set two 26-24 to tie the match 1-1. The Wildcats fell in a close second set, losing in a stanza that was tied four times and had one lead change.

SET 3 | Northwestern bounced back following the second-set loss to take set three and a 2-1 lead in the match. The Wildcats took control of the set…