No. 17 Penn State women’s volleyball (10-7, 4-3 Big Ten) was upset by Washington (9-8, 4-3 Big Ten) in a five-set thriller at the Alaska Airlines Arena. The Nittany Lions came up short in the reverse sweep after losing the first two sets.

The Nittany Lions struggled in the first two sets as the Huskies dominated them, winning the first two sets by eight or more points. They severely struggled as they committed 12 more attack errors than Washington and were dominated in all aspects of the match during this stretch.

Penn State started to show signs of life in the third set, and in a back-and-forth third set, it prevented the sweep by winning the set by two, to send the match to a fourth set. It started to turn this match as it won the fourth set 25-20 to send this match to a deciding set. However, it could not complete the comeback as Washington won the fifth set to survive Penn State’s comeback bid.

How It Happened

Washington took a quick lead with three consecutive kills to get the first set underway. Emmi Sellman recorded a kill for the Nittany Lions on the next point to end this run and put them on the board. Both teams went back and forth for the next four points before back-to-back points by the Huskies gave them an early 7-3 lead.

The Huskies extended their run to four before a service error by Zoria Heard ended it. However, Penn State struggled to gain any momentum, and Washington recorded back-to-back kills to increase its lead to six. This forced Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to use her first timeout of the match.

Out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions got sloppy on the attack as they committed consecutive errors. After that, Alexa Markley recorded a service ace before Caroline Jurevicius’ attack error gave the Huskies a double-digit lead. Both teams exchanged four kills before an attack error by Sellman allowed Washington to take a commanding 17-6 lead.

Maggie Mendelson recorded a kill on the next point before Addie Lyon committed a service error. The Nittany Lions used their second timeout as the first set started to get away from them. After the timeout, Penn State reduced its double-digit deficit to nine, but this was short-lived as Washington responded with back-to-back points to restore its 11-point lead.

Both teams exchanged the next four points before an attack error by Kennedy Martin gave the Huskies a set point. They converted on this opportunity with a kill from Alexa Markley as Washington dominated the first set 25-11.

The Huskies continued to ride their momentum from the first set as they won three of the first four points of the second set. The Nittany Lions responded with a kill by Mendelson and a service ace by Ava Falduto to tie the set at three. This deadlock was short-lived as Washington won three of the next four points to restore its two-point lead.

Both teams traded blows for the next 10 points as the Huskies’ two-point lead stayed intact. This back-and-forth affair was wagered on for two more points before a 4-0 run by Washington allowed it to take a 15-9 lead. This led to a media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, the Huskies continued to pull away as they won two of the next three points. The Nittany Lions started to show signs of life as they went on a 3-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back service aces by Martin. This forced Washington to take its first timeout. This timeout paid huge dividends for it as it responded with three consecutive kills to retake a seven-point lead.

After Penn State won back-to-back points, the Huskies took advantage of the errors committed by the Nittany Lions as they won four of the next five points. This gave them a set point at 24-16. Martin’s kill kept Penn State alive in the set, but on the next point, Kierstyn Barton recorded a kill to put away the second set for the Huskies at 25-17 as the Nittany Lions faced a two-set deficit.

Unlike the first two sets, Penn State got off to a fast start in the third set as it won three of the first four points. This lead was short-lived as Washington won back-to-back points to tie the set at three. After Martin’s kill on the next point, the errors kept piling up for the Nittany Lions as consecutive errors gave the Huskies a one-point lead.

Both teams traded blows for the next six points before Jurevicius’s kill and block assist by Jordan Hopp and Sellman allowed Penn State to retake the lead. The Nittany Lions started to gain momentum as they won three of the next four points to increase their lead to three. However, this lead was short-lived as the Huskies responded with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 12.

The deadlock stayed intact for the next four points before Martin’s kill sent the match into a media timeout. After the media timeout, both teams exchanged kills before Barton’s kill tied the set at 16. Jurevicius’s kill restored the lead for Penn State, but Washington responded with back-to-back points to retake the lead, forcing a Penn State timeout.

Out of the timeout, both teams went back and forth for the next eight points as the Huskies’ lead stayed intact. However, the Nittany Lions refused to go down without a fight and took a 23-22 lead on Martin’s kill and Gillian Grimes’ service ace. This led to a timeout by Washington. Grimes recorded another ace after the timeout to give the Nittany Lions a set point.

However, they could not capitalize as Alexis Haury’s kill kept the set alive for the Huskies. Schumacher-Cawley took a timeout right after in hopes that her team would be able to close out the set. This timeout paid off as Martin recorded a critical kill for Penn State to win the third set 25-23 and send this match to a fourth set.

Kmart sends us to set four!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/ElOSZBEFWS

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 18, 2025

The Nittany Lions carried their momentum from the third set as they won the first four points of the fourth set. This forced Washington to take an early timeout. Penn State increased its run to five on a service ace by Hopp after the timeout, before Barton’s kill finally got the Huskies on the board.

Both teams went back and forth for the next four points before back-to-back errors got Washington within three of Penn State’s lead. After Penn State recorded back-to-back kills, the Huskies refused to be deterred and went on a 4-0 run to trim their deficit to one. This led the Nittany Lions to use a timeout.

After the timeout, Washington tied the set at nine on a kill by Simona Mateska. However, Penn State took a 13-10 lead by winning four of the next five points. The Huskies trimmed their deficit to one as they won four of the next six points. Once again, the Nittany Lions refused to relinquish their lead and responded with a 5-1 run to take a 20-15 lead, leading to a Huskies timeout.

Grimes pancake
KMart kill #WeAre pic.twitter.com/eRLxqIltGy

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 18, 2025

Out of the timeout, both teams traded blows for the next six points before consecutive points by Washington got it within three of Penn State’s lead. On the next point, Martin recorded a huge kill to give the Nittany Lions a set point. They converted on it due to an attack error by Katy Wessels as Penn State sent this match to a fifth set by winning the fourth set 25-20.

Despite losing the last two sets, the Huskies got off to a fast start in the fifth set as they won four of the first five points. After Mendelson recorded a kill for the Nittany Lions, Washington continued to reel off from its momentum as it won back-to-back points to increase its lead to four.

Penn State started to fight back as it won three of the next four points to get within two of Washington’s lead. On the next point, Mateska recorded a critical point for the Huskies to give them an 8-5 lead heading into the media timeout. After the media timeout, Mateska recorded another kill to increase Washington’s lead to four, and the Nittany Lions took a timeout as the match started to slip away for them.

Out of the timeout, both teams went back and forth for the next four points, but Penn State responded with a 3-0 run to trim its deficit to one. This run was highlighted with two kills by Sellman, leading to a timeout by the Huskies. The Nittany Lions could not tie the set at 11 after the timeout due to Hopp’s service error as the Huskies took a 12-10 lead.

Both teams exchanged kills before back-to-back kills by Washington gave it three match points. This led Penn State to use its final timeout in hopes of pulling off a comeback in this set. The Nittany Lions saved the first two match points on back-to-back kills by Mendelson, and the Huskies decided to take a timeout right after.

On its third opportunity, Washington put away this set with a kill by Markley as it won the fifth set 15-13 and survived Penn State’s comeback bid.

Takeaways

• This was a bad loss for the Nittany Lions. They were riding a three-game winning streak coming into this match, and came out flat. Despite almost reverse sweeping, they didn’t play well as they had a hitting percentage of .176 and had a total of 40 errors compared to the Huskies’ 20.
• The first two sets were very ugly for Penn State. It had a hitting percentage of .000 and 27 total errors, compared to Washington’s .365 hitting percentage and nine errors. This proved to be the difference in Penn State’s loss tonight, despite playing much better right after.
• Playing against her former team, Washington’s Alexa Markley had a double-double in her revenge game. She led the team with 16 kills and 13 digs, along with two blocks. Also, she was very effective on the attack as she only had four errors on 39 total attacks.

What’s Next?

Penn State will finish its West Coast road trip against Oregon at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, October 18. The match will be televised on the Big Ten Network.