No. 19 Penn State Women’s Volleyball (13-8, 7-4 Big Ten) fell to Michigan (15-7, 8-3 Big Ten) in five sets in Ann Arbor on Friday night.

Despite taking the first set and completing a 19-14 comeback in the third, Penn State couldn’t secure the victory, snapping its three-game conference win streak. This marks the Nittany Lions’ first loss in Ann Arbor since 2016.

How It Happened

Addie Lyon kicked off the first set with an ace, but immediately committed a service error to tie it up 1-1 early on. After trading kills with Michigan, Kennedy Martin landed back-to-back aces to put Penn State up 6-4.

The Wolverines pieced together a 3-0 scoring run to make it 9-9, but Martin and Emmi Sellman broke that up with three kills to give Penn State a 12-9 lead.

An ace from Gillian Grimes and a kill from Jordan Hopp extended Penn State’s 16-13 lead, but self-inflicted errors from the Nittany Lions gave Michigan six of the next nine points to knot it up at 19-19. A Sellman kill broke the tie again and put Penn State into the 20’s.

Another ace from Lyon and a pair of kills from Martin pushed Penn State to set point, forcing Michigan to burn its final timeout. Grimes recorded Penn State’s sixth ace of the night to take the first set 25-21.

Penn State came out strong to start the second set, with kills from Martin, Gabrielle Nichols, and Alexis Ewing pushing the blue and white up 5-2 early in the set. The entire Penn State offense began to find success at the net, as Michigan was clearly focused on stopping Martin. Sellman started to heat up, recording two more kills to extend the 11-6 Penn State lead.

Serena Nyambio responded for Michigan, finding a block and a kill to shrink the 11-9 lead. Martin logged three kills in four plays, but a few of Penn State’s swings found the net, resulting in a pair of attack errors that kept Michigan within one point.

Allison Jacobs aced to knot it up at 16-16, but Martin would not relent. Penn State’s superstar climbed out of the back row to defeat a triple block and give Penn State an 18-17 lead. The Wolverines took the lead after Nyambio blocked Sellman and forced Katie Schumacher-Cawley to call a timeout.

Out of the break, Ella Demetrician and Nyambio each landed a pair of kills to take control of the set, 23-20. A Martin attack error moved it to set point for the Wolverines, where a Cymarah Gordon kill secured the second set for Michigan.

Lyon began the third set with a service error, handing Michigan the first lead of the frame. Ewing and Martin found two kills each to go up 5-4. Martin then aced with a ferocious serve that pierced the Michigan defense.

"Ferocious serve!"

K-Mart ACE! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/RmGnf9bptJ

— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) October 31, 2025

But the Wolverines answered with a pair of kills from Allison and Jenna Hanes. Hopp sent her serve into the net as did Martin on her attack, allowing Michigan to take a 10-9 lead.

Nyambio landed back-to-back kills, including a precise baseline strike. Nichols and Sellman found kills of their own, but Penn State still trailed 14-12. A kill from Allison put Michigan up 15-13 at the media timeout.

The Wolverines continued to ascend toward a series lead out of the break, thanks to a kill from Jacobs and back-to-back attack errors from the true-freshman Ewing. Hanes landed a kill to go up 19-14. Martin sent the ball flying off a block to stop the bleeding, but Michigan didn’t let up. Demetrician used a two-handed throw-down to give the Wolverines a 21-17 lead. A Sellman kill sparked a 4-0 scoring run for Penn State to tie it up at 21-21.

The Nittany Lions’ ferocious comeback continued with a kill from Nichols and a timely ace by Ava Falduto. An attack error from Gordon moved Penn State to set point, but the red-hot Jacobs logged two kills, knotting it up at 25-25. Ewing redeemed her pair of earlier attack errors with two clutch kills to keep Penn State at set point, 27-26. An absurd rally that featured jaw-dropping ups from Grimes and Jocelyn Nathan ended in a Sellman kill, putting a stamp on the comeback and securing the third set 28-26.

Martin kicked off the fourth set with two kills, putting Penn State up 2-1. A service error from Maddi Cuchran flipped possession back to the Nittany Lions, where Ewing plastered a pair of kills to extend her squad’s 5-3 lead.

Kills were traded, but Michigan remained on top 11-8 due to service errors from Nathan and Hopp. An attack error from Martin extended the Wolverine lead to 14-9.

However, the pendulum swung back to Penn State after three kills from Nichols in five plays and another kill from Ewing put Penn State within one point. Demetrician landed another kill, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. Out of the break, Demetrician hit her swing into the net. Then, a ginormous solo block from Nichols cut the Michigan lead to just 19-18. A kill from Nyambio put the Wolverines up 21-18, but Sellman and Martin answered with a pair of kills.

Michigan rattled off three kills in four plays to reach set point, forcing Penn State to burn its final timeout. Penn State took one with a block by Nichols, but Michigan secured the fourth set 25-22 on a well-executed roll shot from Gordon.

The Wolverines drew first blood in the fifth set after tooling Martin’s block. The overall execution from Penn State’s offense was lacking, as the unit committed three attack errors to propel Michigan to a 5-2 lead in the must-win set. After an unsuccessful challenge from Schumacher-Cawley, Nichols was packed at the net for another Michigan point. Martin briefly found her footing with a kill and an ace, but it ended there with a service error. A Demetrician kill extended the 8-4 Michigan lead, triggering the switching of sides.

The career night for Demetrician continued out of the break, plastering her 16th kill of the night. Martin answered with a high-flying kill from the back row. A Michigan service error and ace from Lexi Gin cut into the 10-7 lead, but there was a ton of work to be done for the blue and white.

Penn State had no answers defensively, surrendering back-to-back kills to Demetrician and Jacobs. Trailing 13-8, Schumacher-Cawley used her first timeout to reassess.

Michigan moved to game point, but a Mendelson block and a ferocious Nichols block moved Penn State within three points, prompting Michigan to use a timeout.

Takeaways

• It was a double-edged sword for Penn State within service tonight, finishing with 11 aces compared to Michigan’s two, but also surrendering 12 service errors.
• Although she finished with 27 kills, Kennedy Martin struggled against Michigan’s game plan tonight. The junior ended with a season-high 13 attack errors and hit well below her season-average with a .200 rate tonight.
• The Nittany Lions had more than enough chances to win this game, the execution simply was not there. They swung 26 more times than Michigan, yet both squads finished with 65 kills.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns home to host No. 24 Indiana in Rec Hall on 4 p.m. Sunday, November 2. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.