No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball (19-6, Big Ten 8-6) took down Rutgers (8-18, Big Ten 2-12) in three straight sets on Sunday afternoon.

Zoe Weatherington led the Nittany Lions surge over the Scarlet Knights with one of her best performances of the season.

How It Happened

The first set started in Penn State’s favor, as it quickly went up 4-1. A lot of impressive blocks kept the Nittany Lions in the lead, and forced Rutgers to take its first timeout as the Nittany Lions led 11-6.

While aces from the Scarlet Knights threatened to close the gap, repeated kills from various Nittany Lions kept them ahead 19-13. Though Rutgers put up a valiant effort, Penn State kept an easy hold on the lead and took the first set 25-18.

The second set began with a classic Zoe Weatherington kill. Rutgers responded with a few kills of its own, but an ace from Penn State’s Bilinovic and kills from Allie Holland created a comfortable 8-4 lead. A slew of kills from Zoe Weatherington forced the Scarlet Knights into a time out as the score sat at 15-11.

The Nittany Lions made it look effortless to finish out the second set. Allie Holland and Zoe Weatherington combined for multiple blocks and kills, respectively, to easily close out the set 25-16.

The first point of the third set came, to nobody’s surprise, from another Zoe Weatherington kill. The Scarlet Knights took hold of their frustration from the Nittany Lions’ dominance and tied things up 5-5.

The teams exchanged points until a kill from Rutgers gave it the first lead of the set, 10-9. Taylor Humphrey, of the Scarlet Knights, put in additional kills, forcing Penn State’s first time out as they trail 11-14.

The Rutgers’ defense began to dominate, putting up multiple blocks and extending the Rutgers lead to 14-20. Several blocks and attack errors put the Nittany Lions within two points, which forced a Rutgers timeout as the Nittany Lions continued to trail 19-21.

A Rutgers service error brought Penn State within one point, and an Allie Holland kill tied the set at 23-23. Another kill and an impressive block from Kashauana Williams put Penn State back in the lead, and a service ace from Allie Holland wrapped up the set 26-24.

Player of the Game

Zoe Weatherington

Weatherington had a dominant afternoon. In only three sets, she racked up 13 kills and three blocks. She also had .588 hitting percentage, the highest of any Nittany Lion for the day.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana on Friday, November 11. First serve time is still unknown.