Penn State women’s volleyball’s west coast road trip got off to a rough start when it lost to No. 11 Oregon Friday night in a sweep (25-17, 25-21, 27-25).

As part of this year’s Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge, the Nittany Lions simply couldn’t keep up with a top-to-bottom solid Ducks team. Penn State showed flashes of light but never sustained enough momentum to swing a frame its way.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions quickly found themselves down 5-2 early in the first frame thanks to a strong 4-0 scoring run from the Ducks. Although the home team remained dominant, Penn State battled back and cut its deficit as close as 14-13 before Oregon ultimately took control again with another 3-0 run, prompting a Nittany Lions timeout.

From there, the Ducks didn’t look back and stormed to a 25-17 set one win. Oregon hit .448 in the frame and scored nearly a third of its points off of eight combined Penn State attack and service errors.

The match’s second frame got off to a far fairer start. Penn State remained tied with Oregon 10-10 and went on a 3-0 run, punctuated by a Cassie Kuerschen ace, to separate from the Ducks. Oregon battled back, though, and caught Penn State at 19. The Ducks stormed back to win the second set 25-21.

Late in the third frame, Penn State fended off Oregon’s 24-21 match point in a valiant effort to prevent a sweep. The Nittany Lions tied the ducks at 24-24 and 25-25 but ultimately coughed up the frame when the Ducks rattled off two points to win 27-25 and take the sweep.

Player Of The Match

Gabby Blossom | Setter

Penn State didn’t win, but you’d be crazy not to applaud Blossom after that match. The Nittany Lions’ senior setter dished out more than 30 assists in the loss and wound up posting six kills on eight swings, too.

What’s Next?

Penn State gets to rest up before continuing its Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge slate against No. 14 Stanford at 7 p.m. Saturday.