No. 5 Penn State women’s volleyball (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten) was swept by No. 4 Kentucky (2-1, 0-0 SEC) 3-0 in its home opener and first game of the Penn State Invitational at Rec Hall on Friday night.

On a night where the Nittany Lions raised their national championship banner in front of Rec Hall, they struggled once again as the Wildcats took the first two sets to put them in another two-set deficit. Penn State refused to go away and led through most of the third set before Kentucky pulled away to win the third set and complete the sweep. With this loss, the Nittany Lions have now lost three in a row and have a losing record.

How It Happened

Penn State changed its starting lineup as Addie Lyon came in to replace Izzy Starck. Kentucky got off to a fast start in the first set as it won the first two points before a block assist by Maggie Mendelson and Emmi Sellman got the Nittany Lions on the board. Both teams exchanged the next four points before a kill by Sellman and an attack error by Eva Hudson gave Penn State a 5-4 lead.

After three consecutive service errors that resulted in Kentucky tying the set at six, Caroline Jurevicius and Kennedy Martin recorded back-to-back kills to give Penn State a two-point lead. Both teams traded blows for the next 10 points as the Nittany Lions kept their lead intact in front of a raucous Rec Hall environment.

Both teams exchanged points before a service error by Addie Lyon and a block assist by Asia Thigpen tied the set up at 14. On the next point, Jurevicius recorded a kill for the Nittany Lions as they restored their lead heading into the media timeout. This timeout paid huge dividends for the Wildcats as they went on a 4-0 run to take a three-point lead and force Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout.

Out of timeout, Sellman ended Kentucky’s 4-0 run with a kill of her own. However, Kentucky continued to get aggressive on attack as it recorded three straight kills to extend its lead to five. After both teams exchanged kills, the Nittany Lions started to feed off their home environment and went on a 3-0 run to get within two of the Wildcats’ lead, which led to a timeout by the Wildcats.

This timeout allowed Kentucky to cool off Penn State’s momentum as it recorded back-to-back block assists to give it four set points. The Nittany Lions saved the first set point on a kill by Martin, but on the next point, the Wildcats capitalized on a kill by Brooklyn DeLeye as they took the first set 25-21.

The second set got underway with a kill by Sellman before three consecutive kills by Kentucky gave it an early two-point lead. This lead was short-lived as Martin recorded a kill and service ace to tie the set at three. However, the Wildcats refused to give the Nittany Lions any sort of momentum and went on to win five of the next six points to take an 8-4 lead.

Both teams traded kills for the next four points before kills by Martin and Jurevicius got Penn State within two. Kentucky refused to relinquish its lead and went on a 4-0 run to give it some breathing room. After the Nittany Lions responded with back-to-back points, Lizzie Carr’s kill increased the Wildcats’ lead to five heading into the media timeout.

Kentucky won back-to-back points after the timeout to increase its lead to seven. However, with the help of its home environment, Penn State continued to fight back as it went on a 3-0 run as it tried to crawl its way back into the set. This momentum was short-lived as the Wildcats won five of the next seven points to restore their seven-point lead and get within three points of winning the second set.

Both teams traded kills before an attack error by Martin gave the Wildcats a set point. Kentucky converted on its first chance on a block assist by Carr and Hudson as it won the second set 25-16 and put Penn State in another two-set deficit heading into the third set.

Both teams traded kills for the first six points of the third set before a kill by Kennedy Washington and a service ace by DeLeye gave the Wildcats an early 5-3 lead. The back-and-forth exchange waged on for the next six points as Kentucky’s two-point lead stayed intact.

However, Penn State, with the help of its Rec Hall environment, started to gain some momentum as it went on a 4-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. After a block assist by Carr and Thigpen ended this run, the Nittany Lions continued to put their foot on the gas as they won consecutive points to increase their lead to three before Kentucky decided to take a timeout.

After the timeout, Kentucky responded with back-to-back kills to get within one of Penn State’s lead. The Nittany Lions refused to give up their lead and went on to win three of the next four points, which allowed them to restore their three-point lead. Once again, the Wildcats recorded consecutive kills to get within one point of tying the set, but Penn State showed its resilience as it won three of the next four points to take an 18-15 lead.

Kentucky refused to go away and won three of the next four points to trim its deficit to one. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before a service ace by DeLeye tied the set at 21. This forced Schumacher-Cawley to take a timeout in hopes of cooling off the Wildcats’ momentum.

Out of the timeout, Kentucky took the lead on another service ace by DeLeye. After that, Hudson recorded a huge kill for the Wildcats to get them within two points of winning the match. Alexis Ewing recorded a kill before Hudson’s kill gave Kentucky two match points, which forced Penn State to take its last timeout of the set.

Penn State saved its first match point on a kill by Martin before Hudson’s kill ended this match, which allowed Kentucky to complete the sweep as it won the third set 25-23.

Takeaways

• The struggles continue for the Nittany Lions. They have now lost three straight matches in a row for the first time since 2023 and have more losses compared to last year. In this losing streak, they have only won three sets and lost nine sets, and now they have lost their first match at Rec Hall since 2023.
• Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye was the anchor for her team in this sweep as it recorded 18 of the team’s 50 kills. She also had three service aces, one block, and a hitting percentage of .351.
• Blocks and kills played a huge factor in determining this outcome, as Kentucky recorded 11 blocks compared to Penn State’s five. Also, Kentucky recorded 10 more kills than Penn State as it dominated it in both aspects of the match.

What’s Next?

Penn State will play its second and final match of the Penn State Invitational at Rec Hall against New Hampshire on Sunday, September 7, at 2 p.m. The match will be streamed on BTN+.