No. 8 seed Penn State women’s volleyball (19-12, 12-8 Big Ten) defeated USF (17-13, 12-4 AAC) in four sets at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas, on Friday night. The Nittany Lions’ perfect record in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 was extended to 27 with this win.

The first set was a tight battle, but after it was tied at 20, Penn State prevailed by two, winning five of the last eight points. However, USF dominated the second set, winning by double digits to send this match to the third set at one set apiece.

Despite being dominated in the second set, the Nittany Lions used their experience to their advantage and reeled off the third and fourth sets to win the match in four sets. Now, they advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 36th consecutive time.

How It Happened

Penn State got off to a fast start as it won the first two points of the match with back-to-back kills. After USF got on the board on the next point, the Nittany Lions extended their lead to three with consecutive kills by Kennedy Martin and Emmi Sellman.

The Bulls responded with a 3-0 run to tie the set up at four. Penn State ended the run on the next point with a kill by Sellman that allowed it to retake the lead. However, USF started to seize its momentum and went on a 4-0 run to take its first lead of the match at 8-5. This led Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley to use her first timeout of the set.

Out of the timeout, both teams exchanged the next four points before back-to-back errors by the Nittany Lions allowed the Bulls to increase their lead to five. After both teams traded service errors, Caroline Jurevicius and Maggie Mendelson recorded kills to cut Penn State’s deficit to three. USF returned the favor with back-to-back kills of its own.

The Nittany Lions started to show signs of resilience and went on a 3-0 run to get within two of tying the set at 15, forcing the Bulls to take a timeout. After the timeout, Gillian Grimes extended Penn State’s run to four with a service ace, but the run came to an end right after on an attack error by Gabrielle Nichols. However, this did not deter the Nittany Lions as they responded with a 3-0 run to retake the lead at 17-16. This led to another timeout by USF.

After the timeout, the Bulls tied the set up at 17 with a kill by Iyanna Garvin. Both teams went back and forth for the next six points as the deadlock stayed intact. Penn State started to pull away as it won three of the next four points to get within two points of winning the first set.

On the next point, Garvin recorded a kill that allowed USF to get within one of tying the set at 23. The Nittany Lions refused to let that happen and earned their first set point due to Sellman’s kill. Even though Penn State could not convert its first set point opportunity, Maria Clara Andrade committed a critical service error for the Bulls that allowed the Nittany Lions to win the first set 25-23.

Kills were the theme at the beginning of the second set as both teams traded kills for the first six points. With the set tied up at three, USF recorded back-to-back kills to take a 5-3 lead. It took advantage of consecutive attack errors by the Nittany Lions to increase its lead to four. Penn State responded with a 3-0 run to get within one of USF’s lead.

The Nittany Lions could not tie the score at seven as Andrade’s kill gave the Bulls some breathing room with their lead. Both teams traded blows for the next six points before USF started to increase its lead as it went on a 4-0 run to give it a 15-9 lead heading into the media timeout.

Out of the media timeout, the Bulls continued to pull away as they won four of the next six points to increase their lead to eight. This led Penn State to use a timeout as the set started to slip away from it. The Nittany Lions could not stop the bleeding after the timeout as USF won three consecutive points to extend its lead to 11, forcing Schumacher-Cawley to use another timeout.

Jordan Hopp recorded a kill after the timeout that ended the Bulls’ 6-0 run. That was the last point Penn State won as USF ended the second set on a 3-0 run to cap off a dominant second set 25-12 and send this match to the third set at one set apiece.

Both teams exchanged the first eight points of the third set as neither team managed to pull away. The Nittany Lions started to show their aggressiveness on the attack as Sellman and Jurevicius recorded consecutive kills to give them a two-point lead. This lead was short-lived as the Bulls responded with a kill and service ace to tie the set at six.

The back-and-forth affair was wagered on for the next six points before back-to-back by USF gave it a two-point lead. After both teams exchanged points, Martin and Sellman recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set at 12. The Bulls won three of the next four points to take a 15-13 lead heading into the media timeout.

After the media timeout, USF increased its lead to three due to Jurevicius’ attack error. Both teams traded blows for the next four points before Penn State tied the set at 18 by winning three consecutive points. The Bulls restored their lead on the next point, but the Nittany Lions took advantage of Sellman’s kill along with Martin and Hopp’s block assist to give themselves the lead. This forced USF to use a timeout.

The Bulls tied the set at 20 after the timeout. However, Martin recorded huge back-to-back kills that allowed Penn State to get within three of winning the third set, forcing the Bulls to take another timeout. Out of the timeout, Martin continued her hot streak as she recorded a service ace to give the Nittany Lions a 23-20 lead.

After Andrade’s kill ended Penn State’s 3-0 run, Laila Ivey committed consecutive attack errors that allowed the Nittany Lions to come out with the 25-21 third set win.

The Bulls got off to a fast start in the fourth set as they won five of the first six points to take an early four-point lead. This led Penn State to take an early timeout. However, USF continued to seize its momentum as it won back-to-back points before Mendelson’s kill gave the Nittany Lions their second point of the set.

After the Bulls won two of the next three points, Penn State started to show signs of life as it won three consecutive points to trim its deficit to three, forcing USF to use a timeout. Out of the timeout, Laila Avey’s kill ended the Nittany Lions’ run. However, this did not deter them, and they responded with a 4-0 run to tie the set at 10. This led to another timeout for the Bulls.

The deadlock stayed intact for the next six points after the timeout before back-to-back points gave USF a two-point lead. This lead was short-lived as Penn State took advantage of consecutive errors by the Bulls to tie the set at 15. Martin continued to put the Nittany Lions on her back as her contributions won them three consecutive points to take a three-point lead. In this run, she recorded a kill and two block assists.

USF responded with back-to-back points to get within one of Penn State’s lead. On the next point, Mendelson recorded a huge kill that allowed the Nittany Lions to have some breathing room. Things started to slip away for the Bulls as they committed consecutive attack errors that allowed Penn State to take a 21-17 lead. Grimes’ ace got the Nittany Lions within three points of finishing off the match.

USF won two of the next three points before a service error by Samiha Foster gave Penn State a match point. It capitalized on this opportunity due to Sellman’s service ace as the Nittany Lions survived with a 25-19 fourth set win.

Takeaways

• Penn State pulled out the win thanks to an incredible performance by Kennedy Martin. She put this team on her back as she recorded 22 of the team’s 48 kills, three service aces, five total blocks, and four digs. If the defending champions want to have a chance of making a run in this tournament, she’s going to have to continue leading the way for this team.
• The Nittany Lions’ service game was at its best tonight. After the narrative that this was their consistent struggle throughout the season, they had their best performance as they recorded eight service aces despite committing six errors.
• For its first appearance since 2002, USF did not disappoint despite the loss. It gave the defending champs a run for their money and had leads in all four sets. However, it will be regretted to have not converted those leads into set wins because the Bulls could’ve easily won this match if it wasn’t for all the 31 errors they committed.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they await the winner of No. 1 seed Texas and Florida A&M. That match will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 6, at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas. Folks can stream the match on ESPN+.