Rutgers Scarlet Knights2023 Record: 10-20
Conference Record: 2-18 (13th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Caitlin Schweihofer (5th season at Rutgers)
Record at Rutgers: 32-79
| Returning Starters | Departures
* - 2023 Starter
() - Transfer Destination | New Additions
() - Transfer Origin |
Kenzie Dyrstad - SO - 5'7 DS/L
Zora Hardison - SO - 6'2 MB
Anna Hartman - SO - 6'2 OH
Alissa Kinkela - R-JR - 6'4 RS
Bekah Williams - JR - 5'9 OH/DS | Madyson Chitty* - SR+ - 5'5 DS/L (Western Kentucky)
Tina Grkovic* - SR+ - 6'2 MB (Wake Forest)
Chelsea Harvey - SR - 5'10 S (Kent State)
Taylor Humphrey* - JR - 6'3 OH (Texas A&M)
Alyssa Nayar* - 5'10 S
Sasha Stotler - R-SO - 6'4 MB (Abilene Christian)
Rikki Williams* - R-JR - 6'1 MB [No longer on roster] | Lily Bolen - FR - 5'7 S
Aly Borellis - JR - 5'10 S (Ole Miss)
Alleigh Dutton - FR - 5'4 DS/L
Ece Emrullah - SR - 6'3 MB (Siena)
Ema Grubanov - JR - 6'4 OH
Avery Jesewitz - FR - 6'3 OH
Natalie Robinson - FR - 6'4 MB
Uliana Yastrub - FR - 6'0 OH |
Rutgers tabbed a two-win conference campaign in 2022. Any victory is worth noting with Rutgers suffering five 0-20 conference slates since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
So, staying off the winless snide remained a baseline goal for the Scarlet Knights in Year 4 of Caitlin Schweihofer's coaching tenure. The non-conference grind was first, of course, and Rutgers began 2023 with a pair of wins in Charlottesville, VA. This included a five-set road win against the Cavaliers, giving the Scarlet Knights its first non-conference win over a Power 5 opponent since 2019--which was also Virginia.
Rutgers toppled Winthrop to start 3-0 but fell in a five-set heartbreaker against NC State. The Scarlet Knights rebounded by overwhelming a slate of sub-par opponents. A five-match winning streak was halted in the non-conference finale against Princeton.
Still, the Scarlet Knights had an 8-2 mark heading into conference play. Rutgers immediately hit a wall in the Big Ten's first weekend and fell in straight sets to Penn State and Purdue.
We saw glimmers of progress as the Scarlet Knights took sets off of Maryland, Michigan State, and Ohio State. That was the precursor to the big splash: a four-set home win over Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers were disjointed at this point of the season, but that doesn't diminish the significance of the triumph. Rutgers earned its first win over a ranked team in program history. It was also the team's first win over Minnesota since joining the Big Ten. This wasn't how Rutgers was expected to get its first conference win of 2023, but the 0-20 curse was off the table.
Rutgers returned to earth after getting stomped at Wisconsin. The Scarlet Knights played a pair of competitive matches against Illinois but came up short in both. A big opportunity was coming, however, with a road trip to Iowa on the docket. Rutgers could double its conference win total in Iowa City while keeping the Hawkeyes pinned in last place.
That's what happened as the visitors swiped a five-set thriller. Rutgers now had a standings buffer against the Hawkeyes as November approached.
Unfortunately, this would be the last mark in Rutgers's win column. The Scarlet Knights dropped nine consecutive matches to end 2023, though many of these matches were competitive. Rutgers won at least a set in each of its last six matches and failed to convert in fifth sets against Michigan State and Maryland. The final tally was 10-20 with a 2-18 Big Ten record, putting Rutgers alone in 13th place.
2023 Lineup:The 2023 Scarlet Knights wielded a more stable, predictable lineup than we had seen from Rutgers in past seasons.
Two clear offensive leaders emerged at two different positions. Rutgers's top scorer last year was redshirt sophomore opposite Alissa Kinkela. The Australian attacker had her breakout season in 2022 after a season-ending injury halted her debut season. Kinkela's numbers improved even further last season as she eclipsed 300 kills for a second consecutive season. Her efficiency rose to 0.240 while also carrying a six-rotation role for the entire season--a notable change from 2022.
Rutgers's second-leading terminator was at the M1 spot. Senior middle blocker Tina Grkovic had been a Scarlet Knights starter since 2020 but saw unprecedented success in Year 4. Her 0.329 hitting percentage was the best among Rutgers attackers by a wide margin. Grkovic received the third-most swings on the Scarlet Knight ledger and was usually kept in to serve. She did a lot.
Kinkela and Grkovic also benefitted from veteran leadership at the ball control positions. The Scarlet Knights leaned on fifth-year senior Alyssa Nayar as its full-time setter last year. Nayar transferred to Rutgers in 2022 after three years at Arkansas-Little Rock. She shared the position with Ole Miss transfer Lauren DeLo in her first season at Rutgers, but DeLo departed for West Virginia before the 2023 campaign. Nayar brought a consistent presence to the position but was also given the unenviable task of blocking against the Big Ten's physical left-side hitters. Rutgers listed Nayar at five-foot-ten, but that's generous.
Madyson Chitty returned for her fourth year in the libero jersey. The Ohio native held the position throughout her career and placed her name on several of Rutgers's all-time leaderboards by the end of the year. Chitty finished third among Scarlet Knights in total digs in the rally-scoring era.
Kinkela, Grkovic, and Chitty played every set in 2024. The only other Scarlet Knight to earn that distinction was freshman defensive specialist Kenzie Dyrstad.
Dyrstad carved out a role as one of the backcourt subs for the left-side hitters. In fact, Rutgers used defensive specialists for both of its starting left-side hitters while leaving Kinkela as the all-around pin at opposite. The other defensive specialist across from Dyrstad was sophomore Bekah Williams, who had actually seen plenty of frontcourt reps in 2022 and early 2023. Once Rutgers entered conference play, Williams saw her frontcourt reps diminish.
This is a good time to discuss who those front-row starters were. The leading left side was sophomore Taylor Humphrey. The second-year attacker finished second in the Scarlet Knight kill tally as a freshman and posted similar numbers in 2023. Another underclassman, freshman Anna Hartman, accompanied Humphrey at the other frontcourt spot. Efficiency struggles persisted on the outside with Humphrey and Hartman posting averages well under 0.200. Hartman only mustered a 0.101 clip.
Rutgers got in a habit of flip-flopping which left-side hitter played where--along with the DS coming in for them. We got used to seeing Dyrstad come in for the L1 and Williams enter for the L2, but that pattern varied considerably by the end of 2023. Hartman spent time at L1 with Humphrey at L2, but that also changed. Perhaps this was a response to Humphrey providing slightly more efficient scoring, eventually prompting a move to L1.
The only position left on the table is M2. You can effectively split Rutgers's season right down the middle to assess the two contributors at the position. The first half of the season featured Penn State transfer Rikki Williams, who tallied just under two kills per set on a 0.212 hitting percentage. Williams was then ailed by a concussion and gave way to true freshman Zora Hardison in early October. Hardison was slightly more efficient but did not receive as much attacking volume as Williams.
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2024 Projected Lineup:Rutgers will look considerably different in 2024. The Scarlet Knights have only one senior on the roster and must replace many key contributors from the 2023 lineup.
At least we can start with the biggest positive. Kinkela is back and will be the face of the team. Her continued growth must continue if Rutgers wants to find a ceiling close to last year's peak. Kinkela is a lock to play all the way around and will lead the team as she had in 2023. It just might be a little less balanced, so get ready to take a lot of swings.
Aside from Kinkela, Rutgers will deploy most of its familiar names in the back row. Dyrstad is the favorite to take over the libero jersey after Chitty moved on to Western Kentucky for her fifth year of eligibility. Replacing a four-year starter is tough, but we'll see how Dyrstad embraces her leadership role in Year 2.
Rutgers also needs to decide what happens with Bekah Williams on the other side of the rotation. We might see Williams return to the frontcourt based on other roster movements on the left side. More on that in a second. The other name to watch is returning junior Lexi Visintine, who, like Williams, has oscillated between frontcourt roles and DS stints.
Humphrey has departed to Texas A&M, leaving a considerable scoring void on the left side. If Hartman improves upon her debut season, she could reclaim her spot at L1. The other outside hitter spot could see a combination of Williams, Visintine, or any one of Rutgers's freshman signees. Ema Grubanov, Avery Jesewitz, and Uliana Yastrub are all first-year additions to the position.
Losing an outside hitter hurts, but the biggest shoes to fill are at M1 with Grkovic grad transferring to Wake Forest. Candidly, replacing Grkovic's production will be impossible. The Scarlet Knights have three middle blockers on the 2024 roster with Rikki Williams no longer in the picture. Hardison will probably move to M1, leaving Ece Emrullah and Natalie Robinson to battle for M2. Emrullah is a senior transfer from Siena who only played in ten sets last year. Robinson enters her first collegiate season after playing her prep ball in the Cleveland area. Rutgers needs to have some surprising revelations at this position to come anywhere close to last year's numbers.
The new starting setter will likely be Ole Miss transfer Aly Borellis--Rutgers's second transfer setter from Ole Miss in the last few years. Borellis was an all-SEC freshman team selection with the Rebels in 2022 and remained a starter in 2023. She'll need to put together some impressive performances to ease the growing pains at several important starting spots.
2024 Schedule:Rutgers faces a daunting start to the 2024 season. The Scarlet Knights visit Denton, TX, for dates with Miami (FL), North Texas, and Colorado. A win over the Mean Green might be the best-case scenario.
Arkansas is on the schedule next, so it doesn't get easier. The Fayetteville road trip also has matchups with Little Rock and Louisiana Tech, offering two chances to snag a win.
Jersey Mike's Arena opens up for contests against LIU, Binghamton, and VCU. The first two will hopefully be wins, but VCU should offer stiff resistance.
Old Dominion and Maryland Eastern Shore are last on the slate.
Until this:
2024 Outlook:If we can ever say that Rutgers is in a "rebuilding year," 2024 might be that year.
Yes, given the program's long history of struggles, this "rebuilding" designation feels like a misnomer. An optimist would say that Rutgers is always rebuilding, and a pessimist would argue that little has ever been built at all.
The point here is that Rutgers has a lot of new faces that will take time to mesh amid an unforgiving schedule. Two key positives are Kinkela's presence at opposite and Borellis's potential at setter. If that unit meshes well, Rutgers could avoid the ever-present threat of 0-20. The Scarlet Knights get Iowa twice, and that's the best chance.
Use 2024 as a barometer for how the young players are progressing. Find players and moments to build around, compile another recruiting class, and go again.
Rutgers was picked 17th in preseason polls. It's a familiar spot for the Scarlet Knights, who are just trying to find their future leaders.
