Penn State women’s volleyball (19-8, 12-5 Big Ten) began a pivotal road trip on a tough note following a loss to Nebraska (20-6, 14-3 Big Ten) Friday night in Lincoln.

The No. 15 Nittany Lions were convincingly swept (14-25, 23-25, 23-25) by the Cornhuskers after they blew several leads and advantages.

How It Happened

Nebraska began Friday night’s match by jumping out to a 10-3 lead. From there, the Cornhuskers cruised to a 25-14 victory and dominated Penn State in nearly every facet of the frame. The Nittany Lions shot themselves in the foot by hitting -.097 in the frame, while Nebraska racked up 13 kills and four blocks to overwhelm Penn State.

Penn State’s luck worsened in set two. Despite rebounding well and carrying a 22-15 lead late into the frame, the Nittany Lions fumbled the bag and let the Cornhuskers tie the set 23-23. Back-to-back hitting errors from right-side Jonni Parker gave Nebraska a huge 25-23 comeback win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Penn State showed some life in set three and quickly jumped out to an 8-4 lead, punctuated by an ace from Anjelina Starck. However, back-to-back Cornhusker kills put Nebraska back on top 13-12 midway through the frame. Although the Nittany Lions would fight back and keep things close, Nebraska completed the sweep with a service ace to win the frame 25-23.

Parker led the Nittany Lions with 14 kills on .195 hitting. No other Nittany Lion topped five kills throughout the match, which should put the team’s offensive woes into perspective.

Setter Gabby Blossom paced Penn State with 18 digs, while libero Jenna Hampton followed with 14. Blossom dished out just 26 assists in the match, dipping far below her 41.6 assist-per-game average.

Player Of The Match

Jonni Parker | Right-Side Hitter

Despite making a handful of mistakes throughout the match, Parker wound up leading all players with 14 kills Friday night. She tacked on five digs and two blocks to round out a strong but ultimately insignificant performance.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will rest on Saturday before heading to Columbus to face No. 10 Ohio State on Sunday, November 21. First serve against the Buckeyes is set for 3 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.