Rutgers fell to Iowa 16-25, 23-25, 21-25 in Coralville, leaving the Scarlet Knights 0-2 in Big Ten play without a set win. Rutgers rallied from 18-23 to tie the second set and led 20-19 in the third, but hit .145 to Iowa’s .271.
Rutgers outblocked Iowa 9-4 and had seven aces to Iowa’s six, but made 25 attack and service errors to Iowa’s 18. Iowa won 64.5% of its serve-receive points, compared with 52.1% for Rutgers. Imani Howell led the Scarlet Knights with nine kills, and Natalie Robinson contributed six of their nine blocks.
Rutgers is 9-5 overall and next visits Ohio State on Thursday for its first Big Ten Discover Challenge match. The Scarlet Knights then host Indiana on Sunday at 2 p.m. for their conference home opener.
