No. 7 Penn State women’s volleyball recorded its eighth-straight win with a sweep against Iowa Friday night.

Middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord tallied a match-high 14 kills in the 25-12, 25-22, 25-19 victory over the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.

How It Happened

Outside hitter Lauren Clark made her second career start Friday night, taking the usual spot of middle blocker Tori Gorrell in Russ Rose’s starting seven. She went on to finish the match with six kills on .556 hitting in addition to three digs.

Penn State jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the opening set and never looked back, ultimately winning 25-12. Kaitlyn Hord shined in the Nittany Lions’ dominating first set, racking up six kills on .857 hitting.

Iowa competed more closely in the second set but ultimately fell 25-22 to the Nittany Lions. There were a whopping eight lead changes in the back-and-forth set in addition to 12 ties.

Finally, the Nittany Lions put an exclamation point on the match by taking the ultimate set 25-19.

The Nittany Lions were dominant from the service line tonight, which generated consistent pressure on the Hawkeyes throughout the entire match. Jonni Parker put her thunderous jump serve to work and recorded three aces, while Kendall White notched two herself.

Gabby Blossom dished out 45 assists in the victory in Iowa City, recording her third-straight match of tallying more than 40 assists. She now ranks first among Big Ten setters with 777 assists on the season.

Kendall White recorded 13 digs in the match, bringing her career total up to 1,801. The standout libero now needs just 157 more to become Penn State’s all-time digs leader.

Gabby Blossom and Jenna Hampton also contributed defensively, each registering nine and six digs, respectively. Additionally, Jonni Parker and Kaitlyn Hord each recording three total blocks.

With tonight’s victory, the Nittany Lions are now 55-0 against the Hawkeyes in the all-time series, which began back in 1991 shortly after Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1990.

Player Of The Match

Jonni Parker | Outside Hitter

Parker truly did it all against the Hawkeyes. The sophomore sensation tallied 11 kills on .304 hitting, three services aces, three total blocks, and four digs in the Nittany Lions’ eighth-straight win.

Tonight’s performance further cemented her as one of the top players on Russ Rose’s roster, as Parker still leads the team in kills (246) and service aces (29).

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions (17-3, 10-1 Big Ten) will wrap up their three-match road trip on Saturday, November 2 when they travel to Nebraska to take on the No. 8 Cornhuskers. First serve is set for 8:30 p.m.