No. 5 Penn State women’s volleyball (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) cruised by New Hampshire (4-2, 0-0 American East) 3-0 in Rec Hall on Sunday afternoon.

Penn State put a much-needed end to its three-game losing streak today. The players were focused and intentional in their bounce-back victory, claiming victory in just three sets.

How It Happened

Penn State came out of the gates firing, led by Maggie Mendelson, who registered two early kills to open the first set. Trailing 4-1, New Hampshire took a head-scratching timeout just five points in. Emmi Sellman came out of the break swinging, plastering four consecutive kills to extend the 9-1 lead. Finally, the Wildcats regained some traction with kills from Lucy Chertock, Rachel Grier, and Lindsey Kriendler, slicing away at the 11-4 Penn State lead.

The Nittany Lions responded with a pair of perfectly executed plays, the first a beautiful service reception from Sellman that set up Mendelson with a rolling kill. That was followed by a big-time hustle play from Ava Falduto, who chased down a rogue ball and returned it to play with just the extension of her arm.

An ace from Jocelyn Nathan put Penn State into the 20s, where they put together a 5-1 scoring run to take the first set 25-11.

Kennedy Martin was all over the court to begin the second set, notching two kills and two assisted blocks to propel Penn State to an early 5-0 lead. The run came to an end after a Gillian Grimes service error, but the Blue and White quickly birthed another streak of points from back-to-back service aces from Martin.

Jordan Hopp finished her rotation with a kill, subbing out for Caroline Jurevicius, who hadn’t seen much action on the court so far. But the 6’2 sophomore didn’t take long to warm up, as she logged a kill just a few plays later to make it a 12-5 ballgame.

Out of a media break, Martin aced New Hampshire, but committed a service error on her next attempt. Then, a kill from Alexis Ewing extended the lead to 18-11, forcing a Wildcat’s timeout.

Ava Jurevicius committed a service error to resume play, but Sellman continued her strong day with a kill to retain possession for Penn State. The net defense manned by Martin and Gabrielle Nichols tightened as the set went on, refusing to let anything through. The two combined for a block to add onto Penn State’s 21-13 lead, with Martin smacking a kill a few plays later to seal the second set 25-15.

New Hampshire drew first blood of the third set and more. They led 4-1 after landing four kills in five points, but a thunderous slam from Mendelson that juiced up the crowd ended the Wildcat’s run. Ewing landed quite the hilarious kill, pounding a ball off the head of a New Hampshire player and watching as it went flying into the stands.

Mendelson and Karis Willow logged three more kills, putting the Blue and White just in reach of a tie for Addie Lyons, who did just that with a service ace. A Chertock kill regained the lead for the Wildcats, but Ewing responded with a high-flying swing and kill to knot it up again at 10-10. Nichols found herself battling alone at the net, but collected a rebound and landed a swift kill to add to the 17-13 Penn State lead and force a timeout from New Hampshire.

Ewing continued her set with a sharply angled kill. The Nittany Lions offense struggled for a handful of plays, but resynched with kills from Mendelson and Jurevicius to take a 23-19 lead. Nichols landed another strike from the middle to bring it to game point, where Jurevicius ended it 25-20, with a brilliant fake swing into a touch pass that fooled the Wildcat’s defense.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s quick starts to the first two sets allowed for younger players to get some burn in the third set. One of those players was Alexis Ewing, who logged X kills and was crucial in securing the sweep. The true freshman showed flashes of major vertical athleticism and swing power.
• Emmi Sellman led both teams in kills with 11 despite not playing in the third set. Her ridiculous .647 hitting percentage was also a game-high.
• Addie Lyons looked comfortable in her second start since the team’s loss of starting setter Izzy Starck. Lyons ran the offense with poise, recording 26 assists on the day.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions take on Bucknell in Rec Hall on Tuesday, September 9, at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Big Ten Network.