No. 18 Penn State women’s volleyball (12-7, 6-3 Big Ten) swept Rutgers (10-11, 1-8 Big Ten) 3-0 in its annual “Dig Pink Match” on Friday night.

Penn State found itself down 20-14 in the first set, and it appeared as if Rutgers was on its way to winning. However, the Nittany Lions launched a comeback and won 11 of the next 14 points to steal the first set 25-23. Penn State feasted on the momentum from its first set victory and went on to win the next two sets with relative ease to complete the sweep.

How It Happened

Rutgers won the first two points of the match and looked to have won three in a row on an attack error by Kennedy Martin. However, Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley challenged the call. The challenge was successful as it was determined that the Scarlet Knights touched the ball before it went out of bounds, putting the Nittany Lions on the board. On the next point, Rutgers’ Aspen Maxwell committed an attack error to tie the first set at two.

Both teams traded blows for the next eight points as neither team managed to pull away. However, after Martin’s kill gave Penn State a 7-6 lead, Rutgers went on a 3-0 run, allowing it to take a two-point lead. The run came to an end right after, on a service error by Lily Bolen.

The back-and-forth affair continued as both teams exchanged the next six points. The Nittany Lions failed on the opportunity to tie the set at 12 as Gillian Grimes’ service error restored the Scarlet Knights’ two-point lead. Rutgers won two of the next three points to take a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, the Scarlet Knights started to seize their momentum and went on a 3-0 run to extend their lead to six. After the run ended on a block assist by Jordan Hopp and Addie Lyon, Rutgers won two of the next three points to get within five points of winning the first set. Penn State, fueled by its Rec Hall environment, started to show signs of perseverance and responded with a 4-0 run to trim its deficit to two. This led to a timeout by Rutgers.

The Nittany Lions’ run came to an end after the timeout due to a service error by Addie Lyon. However, their momentum did not go away as Penn State responded with a 4-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. On the next point, Zora Hardison recorded a kill for the Scarlet Knights to end the run and tie the set at 22. Gabrielle Nichols and Martin recorded huge back-to-back kills to give the Nittany Lions two set-point opportunities, forcing another Scarlet Knights timeout.

Oh my, CJ #WeAre pic.twitter.com/avEdfEPg0Z

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 24, 2025

After the timeout, Rutgers saved the first set point on a kill by Lexi Visintine to get within one point of tying the set at 24. However, Penn State refused to waste its second set-point opportunity, and Martin recorded the kill that allowed it to close out the first set at 25-23.

The Scarlet Knights won the first point of the second set before consecutive points by the Nittany Lions gave them an early lead. After Hardison’s kill tied the set at two, Penn State’s offense got aggressive on the attack and recorded four consecutive kills to take a 6-2 lead. This run was highlighted with three kills by Martin and one by Hopp.

Both teams traded the next four points, but the Nittany Lions continued to pull away as their offense recorded three consecutive kills to increase their lead to seven. This was highlighted with kills by Caroline Jurevicius, Lyon, and Martin, which led to a Rutgers timeout. Out of the timeout, Penn State extended the run to four with a block assist by Emmi Sellman and Hopp before Jocelyn Nathan’s service error on the next point ended it.

This service error gave the Scarlet Knights some momentum as they won four of the next five points to decrease their deficit to four. However, Penn State once again refused to give Rutgers any sort of momentum and responded with a 3-0 run to give it a 16-9 lead. This run came to an end right after due to a service error by Lyon.

Both teams went back-and-forth for the next 10 points as Penn State’s six-point lead stayed intact. The Nittany Lions won back-to-back points on a kill by Sellman and an attack error by Tara Garvey to get within two of winning the second set. This forced another timeout by the Scarlet Knights.

Hopp and Martin team up for the BLOCK #WeAre pic.twitter.com/lttMJPe0Nu

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 24, 2025

Out of timeout, Sellman recorded a kill that gave Penn State a set point at 24-15. Rutgers saved the first two set points before Nichols’ kill allowed the Nittany Lions to win the second set. However, Rutgers challenged Nichols’ kill, and it was successful as it was determined that the ball did not touch a Rutgers player before going out of bounds, keeping the set alive. The Scarlet Knights saved one more set point before Penn State capitalized on its fifth opportunity with a kill by Martin to win the second set 25-19.

Martin’s kill got things underway in the third set before a kill by Maxwell tied the set at one. The Nittany Lions won consecutive points off a kill by Nichols and a service ace by Ava Falduto. Both teams traded points before back-to-back points by the Scarlet Knights tied the set at four. Penn State responded by winning three of the next four points to take a two-point lead.

Jump serve works to perfection! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/DxeL42KnjE

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 25, 2025

After Jurevicius’ service error got Rutgers within one, the Nittany Lions continued to put their foot on the gas as they went on a 3-0 run to take a 10-6 lead. Both teams traded blows for the next six points before a service error by the Scarlet Knights and a block assist by Hopp and Jurevicius increased Penn State’s lead to six. A media timeout occurred right after.

Out of the media timeout, the Nittany Lions continued to make things difficult for the Scarlet Knights as they won four of the next five points to take a 19-10 lead, leading to a Rutgers timeout. After this timeout, Penn State continued to get closer to the finish line as it won three of the next four points to get within three points of completing the sweep.

The Scarlet Knights won two of the next three points before a kill by Alexis Ewing gave the Nittany Lions match point. Unlike the first two sets, Penn State capitalized on its first opportunity with a kill by Nichols as it completed the sweep with a dominating 25-13 third set win.

Takeaways

• Winning that first set was crucial for the Nittany Lions. After being down 20-14 in the first set, they overcame this six-point deficit by winning 11 of the next 14 points to steal the first set. This gave them a lot of momentum right after, as they went on to win the next two sets to complete the sweep.
• Even though Kennedy Martin led the team with 16 kills, Gabrielle Nichols had her best performance as a Nittany Lion in this match as she recorded 10 kills, which was the second-most on the team. She was also very efficient as she had a hitting percentage of .421 and two errors.
• The two factors that determined the outcome of this match were hitting percentage and attack errors. Penn State was very efficient as it had a hitting percentage of .413 compared to Rutgers’ .144. Rutgers also had 10 more attack errors than Penn State.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will head to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State at noon on Sunday, October 26. The match will be streamed on BTN+.