No. 16 Penn State women’s volleyball (8-6, 2-2 Big Ten) bounced back from a tough sweep on Friday with a road victory over Maryland (7-6, 0-3 Big Ten), three sets to two.

Penn State dominated the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-20, but Maryland responded with a pair of set victories, including a back-and-forth fourth set. All in all, the Nittany Lions dominated the fifth set and walked away with a win in their first true road game of the season.

How It Happened

Penn State needed a fast start after its defeat on Friday, and it jumped out to an early lead, thanks to two kills by Alexis Ewing and Kennedy Martin, as well as a service error.

The Nittany Lions opened the lead up to 8-1 and 11-2 before a service error by Gillian Grimes started a minor run for Maryland, but they were only able to cut the deficit to seven multiple times before kills by Emmi Sellman and Jordan Hopp retook control.

Service errors were killers in the first set for Penn State. Despite a strong overall set, they had five service errors. The sloppiness on the service line aside, Penn State played a strong opening set and never let Maryland back in, winning it 25-16.

The Nittany Lions take set one over Maryland pic.twitter.com/2kSlWbm6Ki

— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) October 5, 2025

Maryland’s Haley Melby started off the second set with a kill before Penn State took control. A pair of Ewings kills, and Ava Falduto’s first ace of the match made it 5-1.

Grimes joined in with his first ace a few points later to make it 8-2, but the Terrapins responded with four straight points, which included a pair of kills by Eva Rohrbach. An ace by Martin, the third of the set, started the momentum that led to the team opening up a 19-10 lead on the backs of three kills by Maggie Mendelson.

Maryland responded with an 8-3 run, capped by their first ace of the matchup by Rohrbach. However, an immediate service error flipped the momentum back, and the Nittany Lions capitalized with a Hopp kill and a block by Mendelson and Addie Lyon on the second set point, winning the second set, 25-20.

The third set was an ugly one for Penn State. Ally Williams had a pair of aces, Maryland got a pair of blocks, and they capitalized on a pair of attack errors to get out to an 8-3 lead. A Rohrbach ace made it 10-4 before three straight points by Penn State pulled them to within three.

EMMI SELLMAN #WeAre pic.twitter.com/ikMihV3smX

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 5, 2025

Back-and-forth runs saw Penn State get back to within two, fall behind by five, and get back within two, but they were never able to pull in front. Sydney Bryant recorded three consecutive kills, and Maryland never let the Nittany Lions back in it, winning the third set, 25-19, on an attack error by Gabrielle Nichols.

The fourth set was the first in which both teams played evenly. Mendelson got a pair of early kills for Penn State, and Martin recorded back-to-back aces on the service line to go ahead 6-3 early. However, a couple of attack errors swung the set towards the Terrapins.

Back-to-back aces for KMart! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/oyOax0cvub

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 5, 2025

Two aces by Rohrbach and a pair of block assists sprung Maryland out to an 11-7 lead, one that was added to by a trio of kills by Ajack Malual. At one point, the Nittany Lions trailed 14-10 before they were able to flip the script.

Martin and Ewing got the offense going, with Martin recording another ace. A kill by Sellman eventually tied the set at 17 before a Hopp block gave the Nittany Lions an 18-17 lead. Maryland retook the lead 19-18, but a successful challenge by Katie Schumaker-Cawley helped Penn State go in front 20-19.

It just kept going back and forth. A service error by Lexi Gin tied it back up before a defensive miscommunication swung it back to Maryland. A thunderous Mendelson kill re-tied it at 21, a Maryland block made it 22-21, but a Maryland service error tied it again.

Perfect pass leads to a clutch kill by Maggie#WeAre pic.twitter.com/Xzmab5m2VC

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 5, 2025

Finally, Maryland broke serve. An attack error by Ewing and a misplay by Penn State set up the Terrapins for set point. A long rally set up a Mendelson kill on the first set point, but Grimes committed a set-losing service error to lose 25-23 and force a fifth set.

A net violation started the fifth set for Maryland, but a Lyon service error, Penn State’s 12th of the match, evened it up at one. Two kills by Mendelson, a Malual service error, and a Grimes ace opened up a 5-2 lead for Penn State into a timeout. Out of the timeout, it was Grimes again for her third ace.

Those aces seemed to have crushed the spirit of Maryland’s comeback. Martin and Ewing went back and forth with thunderous kills to eventually stretch the lead to 11-3. A service error broke the lengthy run, but Maryland couldn’t capitalize, committing one of their own.

A kill by Martin, a block assist by Lyon and Mendelson, and a match-ending attack error sealed the deal for the Nittany Lions, winning the final set, 15-5.

The Nittany Lions resilience was on display today in the win over Maryland pic.twitter.com/UCmKdkb4p0

— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) October 5, 2025

Takeaways

• Penn State has now won 33 consecutive matches against Maryland. The last time Maryland defeated Penn State in women’s volleyball was September 30, 1983.
• Another 21 kills for Kennedy Martin, but with the absences around the roster, the team needed Maggie Mendelson and Alexis Ewing to step up. They did with 25 combined kills.
• On the service line, Penn State had eight aces to 13 errors, while Maryland had seven to 16. Martin did the best back there with a four-to-one ratio.
• This was one they absolutely needed to win after getting swept against Nebraska. There’s still a lot left in front of this team, and they needed this to prevent it from spiraling.

Up Next

Penn State heads back home to face off against Wisconsin on Friday, October 10, at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall in the team’s White Out match. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.