Rutgers volleyball will continue its nonconference schedule this weekend with three matches in Fairfield, Connecticut. The team is set to face Dartmouth on Friday, Sacred Heart on Saturday, and LIU on Sunday at the William H. Pitt Athletic & Convocation Center.
The Scarlet Knights began their season at the Buffalo Invite last weekend, where they recorded a 3-1 win over Marist but fell in five sets to both Liberty and host Buffalo. Sophomore right side Aspen Maxwell was named to the Buffalo Invite All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.93 kills per set and contributing nine blocks across 14 sets. In her debut for Rutgers, Maxwell hit .346 with 14 kills and four blocks against Marist, then posted a double-double of 20 kills and 12 digs versus Liberty, followed by a career-high 21 kills against Buffalo.
Other key contributors include junior middle Zora Hardison, who has averaged 2.38 kills per set with a team-best .418 hitting percentage—currently seventh in the Big Ten—and senior outside Lexi Visintine, who put away 2.21 kills per set last weekend. Natalie Robison averaged 2.14 kills per set and hit .375, including a career-high 13 kills against Buffalo.
Sophomore setter Lily Bolen is currently sixth in the Big Ten for assists per set (10.36) and registered a career-high of 51 assists in matches against Liberty and Buffalo. She also notched two double-doubles during opening weekend.
Visintine moved into Rutgers’ rally-era career top ten for aces with a total of 61 over four seasons, while junior Jenna DeLaMater matched her career high with four aces against Marist.
On defense, Hardison led with eleven total blocks last weekend—including six solo stops—while Robinson logged ten blocks with four solo efforts. Sophomore libero Alleigh Dutton averaged 3.21 digs per set and achieved a personal best of seventeen digs against Liberty.
Dartmouth will open its season against Rutgers after finishing last year with a record of 10-14 overall and 3-11 in Ivy League play. Key returners include junior Maddie LaFata (2.53 kills/set), junior setter Ellie Mattox (4.66 assists/set), and senior middle Molly Power (79 total blocks in 2024).
Sacred Heart started its campaign with losses to Gardner-Webb, UNC Greensboro, and Queens (NC). Junior Lauren Hubert led offensively with an average of 3.64 kills per set; freshman Ryleigh Short contributed another 3.09 per frame; junior setter Ava Roodbol managed over ten assists per set through three games; sophomore libero Miliani Villarreal posted nearly six digs per set.
LIU enters the tournament following straight-set losses to Grand Canyon and Gonzaga as well as a five-set defeat to Texas – Rio Grande Valley. Junior Sara van Gisteren leads the attack at four kills per set; senior Karly Klaer averages over eight assists; sophomore Miabella Musignac contributes both from the service line (four aces) and defensively (4.09 digs/set).
Under head coach Caitlin Schweihofer since spring of 2021—a season played out-of-sequence due to COVID-19—the program has made several advances such as tripling its conference win total that year along with earning program firsts like All-Big Ten honors and series sweeps within the conference.
Since returning to fall competition later that same year, Rutgers continued improvement by recording its best nonconference record since 2012. The Scarlet Knights have competed regularly against Top-25 opponents during Big Ten play each subsequent season—highlighted by capturing their first-ever victory over a ranked opponent in recent years—and have reset numerous school records for individual and team performance metrics.
Last season saw further progress from younger players: Alissa Kinkela became Rutgers’ first All-Big Ten attacker while rookie Natalie Robinson established new benchmarks for blocking statistics within rally-era records.
After this upcoming road stretch in Connecticut, Rutgers will return home next week for matches against Rider on Wednesday, St. Francis (PA) on Thursday, and New Hampshire on Friday at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
