No. 4 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to No. 17 Purdue 3-2 (25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 18-20) Saturday night at Rec Hall.

Penn State’s nine-match winning streak was snapped following a lengthy video review of the final play.

How It Happened

A night after sitting out Penn State’s sweep over Indiana, setter Bryanna Weiskircher resumed her starting duties against the Boilermakers. She finished with 52 assists and 10 digs.

Jonni Parker was shaken up after landing awkwardly early in the match, but quickly returned to the court following an evaluation from Penn State’s medical staff. The Nittany Lions rallied to take the second set thanks to Taylor Leath’s eighth kill of the night. She paced the team with a season-high 21.

Nia Reed poured it on offensively to reach double-digit kills, but Purdue eventually forced a fifth set. Freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord also turned in a strong showing with 10 kills, while Parker and Serena Gray combined for 16 kills. Gray led all players with five blocks.

Junior libero Kendall White, who recently became the ninth player in program history to surpass 1,250 career digs, had a match-high 17 against her home state Boilermakers. She also recorded a rare kill in the third set.

“We need to compete more in practice,” White said. “I think that the way we played is the way we practiced this week. There are no guaranteed wins. Purdue came out and kicked our butts in the last couple sets.”

Player of the Match

Sherridan Atkinson | Outside hitter

Atkinson tallied a match-high 32 kills, five digs, and three blocks for the Boilermakers.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions (18-4) travel to Lincoln next Friday for an 8 p.m. rematch with No. 9 Nebraska on Big Ten Network. Penn State won 3-2 on October 13 in Rec Hall.