No. 9 Penn State women’s volleyball (12-1, Big Ten 1-1) suffered its first loss of the season (25-19, 25-17, 25-19) to Michigan (11-1, 2-0 Big Ten) Saturday night at Rec Hall.

A lack of offense and a large amount of out-of-system balls caused the Nittany Lions to lose their undefeated record to the Wolverines. This is the first time since 2016 that Michigan has taken down the Nittany Lions.

How It Happened

The energy was electric for the first set in Rec Hall, as Penn State quickly went up 5-2. A Michigan timeout was called shortly after, but the pressure from the front line and an ace from freshman Gillian Grimes kept the lead 12-9.

Great plays by @6ugarr and @mbilinovic lead to a Penn State point and a Michigan timeout!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/pKZc9f9qhw

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) September 24, 2022

The momentum began to swing toward Michigan as it got its first set lead 15-14. A few questionable calls kept the energy in its favor, and Michigan’s lead grew 20-17.

Penn State challenged the set point but was ultimately denied and found itself down 24-19. The Nittany Lions then dropped the first set 25-19.

The second set started off tight with a 5-5 tie, but three Michigan aces and a double contact call on the Nittany Lions once again gave Michigan the 10-6 lead. Michigan held onto the lead for the entire largely in part due to a .260 hitting percentage compared to Penn State’s 0.77. The Wolverines kept up the intensity to take set two 25-17.

Michigan once again started off the third set with a 4-1 lead, and it only got amplified as it went up 10-3. The points kept tacking on for Michigan as it got up 14-8 after an out-of-bounds block from Allie Holland.

Penn State then called a timeout while down 17-10, but the seven-point lead was maintained for the Wolverines at 21-14. Michigan held the 24-18 match-point lead, but a blocking error gave the Wolverines the win.

Penn State suffered its first loss of the season 3-0.

Takeaways

• If it isn’t apparent yet, Big Ten play is legit, folks. Although Michigan isn’t ranked, the Big Ten conference is so intense that Penn State is going to have to be ready for a tough game every night.
• Huge plays are the driving motivation for this team, so having out-of-system balls and an almost zero hitting percentage as a team surely causes problems for the Nittany Lions.
• Heading to a top-10 atmosphere next week at Wisconsin, Penn State is going to have to bounce back to deal with the tough conference schedule ahead.

What’s Next

Penn State will hit the road for a single game against No. 6 Wisconsin at 9 p.m. on Friday, September 30, in Madison.