NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Rutgers women’s volleyball team hits the road for two Big Ten matchups starting with a stop at Indiana on Friday, Oct. 14 a 7 p.m. ET. RU then meets its fourth ranked foe of the season in No. 22 Purdue live on Big Ten Network on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
GAME 1: Rutgers at Indiana – 7 p.m. Live Stats | BTN Plus
GAME 2: Rutgers at No. 22 Purdue – 8:30 p.m. Live Stats | TV: BTN | BTN2Go
RU’S LAST TIME OUT
Rutgers (4-15, 0-6 Big Ten) continued its stretch of top 25 matchups, suffering a pair of three-set losses to No. 2 Wisconsin at home Wednesday and No. 15 Penn State on the road Saturday. RU has opened conference play with six straight matches against a ranked opponent, including two meetings with PSU.
Meme Fletcher continued to lead the hitters, averaging 2.33 kills per set across the Scarlet Knights’ last two matches. Fletcher owns a team-best 2.69 kills per set on the season. Mikaela Matthews remains amongst the top 10 of the conference block leaders, ranking eighth in the league with 1.19 blocks per set.
SCOUTING INDIANA
Indiana (12-7, 1-5 Big Ten) opened conference action with a four-set win over Northwestern before falling into a five-game losing skid. The Hoosiers competed in three consecutive matches with the nation’s top three programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska across the first weeks of league action. Most recently, IU fell to Iowa in three sets on Saturday.
Allison Hammond sits at seventh in the league with 3.74 kills per set. Megan Tallman ranks seventh in assists per set averaging 10.55 assists. Taylor Lebo ranks fourth in the conference in aces per set (0.39) with a total of 65 aces, followed by Tallman ranked ninth (0.32) with a total of 56 aces on the season.
Indiana and Rutgers have met six times in program history with the Hooisers earning the win in each contest. The teams met twice in 2015 with IU earning a 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 20-25, 19-25) win in October before topping RU 3-0 (16-25, 21-25, 23-25) in November.
SCOUTING PURDUE
After registering a 10-1 record in nonconference play, Purdue (11-6, 1-5 Big Ten) has since faced three opponents ranked in the top three to open its Big Ten slate. Over the weekend, the Boilermakers were upset by Iowa in five-sets before being swept by No. 3 Nebraska in straight sets. Purdue has also faced then-No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 2 Minnesota in that span.
The Boilermakers have three players ranking in the top five of three statistical categories, led by Faye Adelaja sitting at third in the league in hitting percentage (.409). Danielle Cottino ranks fourth in the conference with 3.89 kills per set and Ashley Evans ranks fifth with 10.82 assists per frame.
Although the Boilermakers have been victorious in all six meetings between the programs, the Scarlet Knights pushed then-No. 15 Purdue to the brink in a four-set loss in their last meeting on Nov. 18, 2015. Despite falling behind 2-0 to start the match, Rutgers dominated the third set to stay alive with a 27-25 victory. The Scarlet Knights maintained their momentum into the fourth, but the Boilermakers used extra serves to hold off RU, 26-24, to claim the win. Fletcher and Cloyd each registered double-digit kills in the match.
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Courtesy of Rutgers Athletics
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