After volleyball surpassed last year’s win total by amassing a 9-3 nonconference record, things quickly got tougher for the Scarlet Knights to open up conference play. Rutgers fell to 9-5 after a tough road
trip to #7 Wisconsin and #12 Minnesota, with both ranked opponents taking the Scarlet Knights down in straight sets.
To kick off Big Ten play, Rutgers visited #7 Wisconsin at the UW Fieldhouse on Friday night. After the Badgers outlasted the Scarlet Knights with back-to-back 25-17 sets, Rutgers had no more answers, dropping the third set 25-12. The Badgers won their seventh straight to improve to 8-1 on the season.
Sophomore Aspen Maxwell continued her strong start with nine kills and three blocks, while junior Zora Hardison also had three blocks. Sophomore Lily Bolen had 23 assists and tied her classmate Alleigh Dutton with a match-high eight digs, with Bolen, Lexi Visintine, and Jenna DeLaMater each recording an ace.
Sunday’s game against Minnesota was much closer. The Golden Gophers rallied back from down 21-18 to win the first set 25-22. The second set was more comfortable, with Minnesota winning 25-13, but in the third set, the Scarlet Knights made things interesting despite falling behind 23-15. Rutgers went on a 9-1 run to tie the contest at 24, before the two teams traded points to knot things up at 27. The Gophers iced it with two kills to win 29-27.
Rutgers and Minnesota were tied 20 times during the contest, but the Scarlet Knights were unable to snap Minnesota’s 12-game win streak. The Gophers are 12-1 and 2-0 in Big Ten play to open the 2025 season. Despite the losses, Rutgers has shown significant improvement in being able to stay competitive with the #12 team in the nation for two of three sets.
For the Scarlet Knights, Aspen Maxwell had a match-high 14 kills, with Lily Bolen dishing out a game-high 39 assists. Visintine and DeLaMater had two aces each, with Dutton leading the team with 10 digs and Natalie Robinson having four blocks. Hardison moved into a tie for being the team’s leading single-season blocker, with 21 solo blocks this year.
This week, Rutgers will return to Jersey Mike’s Arena for a pair of huge contests. Regional rival Maryland will visit Piscataway on Friday before a massive showdown against #1 Nebraska takes place at JMA on Saturday night. Both games will be Scarlet Outs and start at 7 PM.
After that, the Scarlet Knights will host Northwestern the following Friday for a Pink Out and Illinois (which is receiving poll votes) on Saturday. This massive homestand will be an excellent opportunity to check out Rutgers, especially with the #1 Cornhuskers making their visit to New Jersey on Saturday.
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