2025 was a season of improvement for the Rutgers volleyball team, even if it only minimally showed in wins and losses. The Scarlet Knights’ 12 overall wins in 2025 are the most victories Rutgers has secured since joining the Big Ten. Additionally, except for the shortened 2020-2021 COVID season, Rutgers’ three conference wins in 2025 marked the most conference victories since joining the Big Ten.
“The biggest areas of improvement from the previous year, in ’24 to ’25, was on the offensive side,” Head Coach Caitlin Schweihofer said in an interview during Big Ten Media Days. “We had the highest hitting percentage that we’ve had as a program in the Big Ten. And we broke ace records and kill records and all these different types of individual and career and season records. We want to continue that.”
With the improvement in their offense last season, Coach Schweihofer has made it a point of emphasis to focus more on defense this offseason, hiring two new assistants to focus on defense.
“We shifted our focus to the defense in the second half of spring. And obviously that’s going to be our main focus throughout preseason. Kind of reflected a lot on what our defensive system was,” Schweihofer said, adding, “And so how the block and defense work together is a key component. And if we can combine our offensive success from last year and then increase our dig-to-kill ratio and how many balls we’re keeping off the ground, opponent hitting percentage, that’s gonna elevate us even more this season.”
Two of the key components to the Scarlet Knights’ success this season will be Lily Bolen and Aspen Maxwell.
Bolen will be returning as the setter for Rutgers. Last season, she dished out 1,068 total assists, or 9.54 assists per set, the most by a Scarlet Knight since 2012. Her assists per set average marked the highest by a Rutgers player since joining the Big Ten. Her 2025 assists total included four matches with 50 or more assists in a match, including a career high 55 at Ohio State last November. Additionally, Bolen notched 11 double-doubles, the most by a Scarlet Knight in the rally scoring era, and included a 20-assist and 10-dig effort at No. 17 USC last November.
However, while Bolen was putting up the numbers, she is quick to give credit not only to her own passing, but also to the skill and the timing that she and her hitters work to build throughout the preseason.
Maxwell came to Rutgers as a transfer from Missouri last season, and will be another key to RU’s offense in 2026. The Junior pin hitter led the Scarlet Knights with 378 total kills last season, a 3.38 kills per set average, and 83 blocks. Maxwell’s 378 total kills are the most for a Rutgers player since 2013, and her 3.38 kills per set average is the most by a Scarlet Knight since 2009. Additionally, Maxwell led Rutgers in kills in 20 contests and blocks in six. Her totals included a season-high 21 kills at Buffalo last August and a career-high six blocks against Columbia last September.
One of the areas that has the biggest hole to fill in 2026 could come at the service line with the graduation of Lexi Visintine. Visintine left the Banks of the Raritan holding the top two spots for aces in a season.
However, Coach Schweihofer is not too concerned, stating, “We spend a lot of time on serving. It’s something that’s really, really important to our offensive and defensive production. And everyone on the team — I think, we have 18 players who are all incredibly capable at the service line, and nobody has the same serve.”
Schweihofer continued, “We recruited Karis Willow, who is kind of known for her serve. It’s funny, she posted a video during camp of her serving. I think it got like 2 million views. Like, bam, serve. We let her try some different things from the service line. I don’t see a big drop-off after Lexi left because I think she inspired a lot of these girls to not only meet that record but also break it.”
Even with the improvement in 2025, winning in the Big Ten is no easy feat. The conference is a powerhouse when it comes to volleyball. The Big Ten includes volleyball blue bloods Penn State, Nebraska, USC, and UCLA, who, between them, have a combined 20 national championships, along with relatively new powerhouses, Minnesota (one runner-up finish) and Wisconsin (one national championship and three runner-up finishes).
For her part, though, Coach Schweihofer feels that the team’s improvement is sustainable, even in a difficult conference such as the Big Ten.
“This team is incredibly physical,” Schweihofer said. “It doesn’t necessarily matter about height. I always say I don’t care if you’re 5-10 or you’re 6-4; if you can hit the ball and hit the ball hard and jump high, it doesn’t matter how tall you are. And we’ve had players last year, our two outsides, they were undersized and helped break our hitting efficiency record.”
Schweihofer concluded, “But it is nice to look physically, actually look, I would say, comparable to other Big Ten opponents. We walk into a gym and there’s no question mark that we’ve grown this program into a true Big Ten volleyball program. And it’s something that I’m really, really proud of. And it’s at a point where I feel like it’s incredibly sustainable for the next, as long as it remains a program at Rutgers.”
The Scarlet Knights open their season on Aug. 28 at the Bellarmine Classic in Louisville, Ky., against Purdue-Fort Wayne and Bellarmine, and Rutgers opens their home slate on Sept. 8 against Long Island at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
