Rutgers volleyball just wrapped up their non-conference schedule with an absolute barn burner, beating St. John’s 3-2 (25-27, 25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 15-13) in a grueling 181-minute marathon on Saturday. What’s wild? The Scarlet Knights missed ten serves, got out-killed, and out-dug, yet somehow still pulled off the win at Carnesecca Arena in Queens. This isn’t just any win, it showcases a team that can scrape by and find a way to victory even when they are “definitively not the best team” on the floor.
When the Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Just yesterday, in the same gym for the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic, Rutgers missed a staggering 17 serves and lost a match despite winning at “every other position on the floor.” That was after a “miracle reverse sweep” earlier that same day. So, Saturday’s match with ten missed serves was an improvement, sure, but still a hurdle. St. John’s was throwing punches everywhere else. They out-killed Rutgers 69-63, out-dug them 80-69, and Carola Tesoro for St. John’s was on another level, hitting 30 balls to the floor, which was more than any two Scarlet Knights combined. The hitting lines were razor close, with Rutgers at .188 and St. John’s at .187. But here’s the kicker, the undeniable difference maker: Rutgers ripped off eight aces to St. John’s single ace. They also out-blocked the Red Storm 15-10. Rutgers gave away 40 points on errors, but St. John’s gave back 43. That tiny three-point difference on errors, combined with those eight aces, tells you everything. It was a gritty, messy win, but it counts just the same.
The Five-Set Grind and How Rutgers Fought Back
The first set was a nail-biter right from the jump, with St. John’s opening strong with kills from Kendall White and Lejla Hadiredepovic. Rutgers battled back, with Malia Romes and Imani Howell getting key kills, and Willow landing an ace on Hadiredepovic to push Rutgers to a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. But St. John’s, led by Tesoro, fought back hard, stealing the set 27-25 after Rutgers had set point. St. John’s hit an incredible .370 in that first frame. Not good. But the Scarlet Knights flipped the script in the second, with Romes and Howell stuffing Tesoro early for a 7-6 lead they never gave up. Brooke Baldwin and Howell hammered down more aces, and after a brief St. John’s run, Rutgers called a timeout and then closed it strong, hitting a clean .344 for their best set of the day to win 25-19. The third set was wild. The source called it “the worst-played set of the afternoon and the most valuable one.” Rutgers somehow managed to win it 25-23, proving they could grind out a victory even when things weren’t clicking.
Rutgers wraps up their non-conference schedule at a solid 9-3 after this intense win in front of an announced 421 fans. They’ve proven they can win messy, they can win tight, and they can win when the odds are stacked against them. Heading into the conference slate, that kind of resilience is exactly what you need. Get ready for what’s next.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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