Penn State women’s volleyball lost to Stanford 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 20-25, 16-25) Saturday night in the Elite Eight at Maples Pavilion.

Kathryn Plummer led the top-seeded Cardinal to victory with a match-high 23 kills and 10 digs.

How It Happened

Penn State took the first set 25-18 behind a strong showing from senior outside hitter Nia Reed. Plummer started to heat up in the second set for the Cardinal, who evened things up 1-1 at the intermission after an impressive comeback. 

Stanford rode its momentum to take the next set and put the pressure on Penn State before establishing an early lead in the fourth. Plummer’s final kill of the night closed out a 4-0 run from the Cardinal to end the match.

Stanford outhit the Nittany Lions .326 to .204 to advance to the Final Four, where it will face BYU Thursday in Minneapolis. The Cardinal also won the blocking battle 14-10. Both teams had three players finish with double-digit kills in the regional final.

Reed paced Penn State’s offense with 12 kills in the loss, while Kendall White chipped in a team-high 11 digs and Bryanna Weiskircher dished out 42 assists in her final collegiate match. The graduation of Reed and Weiskircher means Penn State won’t have any players with a national championship ring on next year’s roster.

(1) @StanfordWVB advances to Minneapolis following a 3-1 victory against (8) Penn State.#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/Ds1fioO0HU

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 9, 2018

Player of the Match

Kathryn Plummer | Outside hitter

Last season’s AVCA Player of the Year was her dominant self Saturday night against Russ Rose’s squad. She hit .383 and had one of Stanford’s five service aces.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions (26-8) see their season come to a close a little earlier than they wanted, but it was nonetheless an excellent run for a young team that will return plenty of talent next fall.