No. 12 Penn State women’s volleyball (1-1) made up from its first loss of the season earlier this morning to Georgia Tech with a 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-22, 25-9) over St. John’s (NY).

Senior outside hitter Jonni Parker led the Nittany Lions to victory with nine kills and four blocks.

How It Happened

Kills from Kaitlyn Hord and Erika Pritchard brought the Nittany Lions to a 3-2 start, but St. John’s took over on kills by Giorgia Walther, Efrosini Alexakou, and Eleonora Tosi to give the team a 6-5 lead.

Penn State came back on a 4-0 scoring run to lead 9-6 with a block and kill by Allie Holland. Thanks to strong hitting from the Nittany Lions and offensive errors on St. John’s, Penn State gained momentum to increase its lead to 18-12.

The Nittany Lions’ strong play continued on a 5-0 scoring run with two aces from Allie Holland and a block by Anastasiya Kudryashova to close out the first set 25-14, giving Penn State a 1-0 start to the match.

Penn State’s momentum carried over to the second set with a 5-2 start thanks to a kill from Parker and a block by Hord. Back-to-back kills from Holland and Parker gave the Nittany Lions an 8-5 edge over St. John’s early on.

Errors from Alexakou and Baumrukova propelled Penn State to a 14-7 lead. St. John’s stayed close behind, coming back on a 4-0 scoring run thanks to kills by Rastelli and Kathariou, bringing the score to 14-11. However, Hord’s back-to-back kills kept the Nittany Lions at a comfortable 16-11 lead.

St. John’s tied the second set at 19-19 on kills by Tosi and Alexakou on a 3-0 scoring run, almost taking its first lead of the set. Although it cut things close, Penn State won the second set 25-22 on a block by Kudryashova.

The Nittany Lions began the third set strong on kills from Hord, Parker, and Pritchard and an ace from Gabby Blossom, leading 4-1. A kill and ace from Adanna Rollins lifted Penn State’s lead over St. John’s to 10-5. The Nittany Lions went on a 6-1 scoring run following back-to-back attack errors from Alexakou and kills from Hord and Parker, giving it a 14-6 lead.

St. John’s couldn’t catch Penn State thanks to strong hitting from Parker and Pritchard and crafty serving from Blossom. The Nittany Lions closed the match with a kill by Rollins, winning 25-9.

Player Of The Game

Jonni Parker | Opposite Hitter

Senior opposite hitter Jonni Parker finished the match with nine kills, four blocks, and a .471 hitting percentage. She played well Friday morning, but an extraordinary performance against St. John’s fueled the much-needed win.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will face UCF on Saturday, August 28, to close out the UCF Challenge.