No. 7 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to No. 8 Wisconsin 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 19-21) in Saturday night’s White Out at Rec Hall.

It was the first and only time these two programs met during the regular season. A crowd of more than 4,000 was on hand for the second night in a row.

How It Happened

Wisconsin led the entire first set thanks to Madison Duello’s hot start. On Penn State’s side of the net, freshman middle blocker Serena Gray connected on her first three swings, but the Nittany Lions looked somewhat out of sorts on offense.

The Badgers hit .400 as a team in the first set while Penn State struggled to a .171 clip with six attack errors. In the final regular season match of her career, senior outside hitter Nia Reed tied her career high with 20 kills for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State squared it up at 1-1 following one of Allyson Cathey’s 13 kills, but not without enduring a late Wisconsin run that made things interesting. The Badgers took a close third set to gain control of the match despite a furious rally from the Nittany Lions.

Whatever Russ Rose said to his team during the intermission clearly inspired a quick turnaround, as Penn State established a sizable lead in the fourth set and eventually extended the match.

There were 13 tie scores in a marathon fifth set that could have gone either way. A few untimely errors ultimately proved to be the difference. Kendall White finished with a match-high 26 digs and two assists in the loss. Bryanna Weiskircher notched a double-double with 60 assists and 15 digs.

“It hurts to lose today but we have to learn from it,” White said. “That’s all we can do. You can’t dwell on it. I think that we came out tonight not ready. That’s not an excuse no matter how late the game went yesterday.”

Player of the Match

Madison Duello | Outside hitter

Duello led the Badgers to victory with a match-high 24 kills, three digs, and three blocks.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions (23-7) will find out who they’re playing in the first round of the NCAA tournament when the bracket is announced Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU.