Rutgers Volleyball Handles Bellermine With Ease in 3-1 Win

Looking to avenge this morning’s collapse against Purdue Fort Wayne, Rutgers got its first win of 2026 on Friday night, beating host Bellarmine 25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 at Knights Hall

The Scarlet Knights needed it. Friday morning they took the first two sets from Purdue Fort Wayne, hit .524 in the second and never trailed in it, then lost three straight to fall 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 16-18. They won the kill count 67-61, out-hit the Mastodons .296 to .293 and scored 113 points to 112. They also held two match points in the fifth and converted neither, the first erased by a service error and the second by an attack error into the block.

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Friday night there was no fifth set to lose.

Six Points, Then a Giveback

The first set ended at the service line. Rutgers led 6-3 when Karis Willow, the Penn State transfer, stepped back and did not leave until it was 12-3, six straight points, the last four consecutive aces. Bellarmine never got within six again. Rutgers hit .292 and held the Knights to .087. 25-15.

The second was the one that got away. Mary Herman served four in a row to turn a 3-2 Rutgers lead into a 3-6 hole. Willow’s next run broke a 14-14 tie and built it to 18-14, and Rutgers still led 21-18 with the match in front of it. Then it stopped scoring. Bellarmine took seven of the last eight, closing on back-to-back Aspen Maxwell attack errors, one into the block, one wide. 25-22, Bellarmine. Rutgers hit .129, its only set under .290.

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Bolen Flips It, the Block Ends It

Bellarmine opened the third the way it closed the second. Mya White served four straight for a 1-6 lead. Then Lily Bolen went back and the set inverted with six consecutive points, three of them aces, and Rutgers led 8-6. Malia Romes closed the run with a kill off Bolen’s set. The Scarlet Knights hit .346 and took it 25-21 on an Imani Howell kill.

The fourth was even at 13-11 before the block arrived. Kenzie Dyrstad served through a Howell-Romes stuff and a Romes kill for 16-12, and…

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Publish date : 2026-08-29 02:20:00

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