No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten) ended its west coast trip on a high note, sweeping USC (8-10, 2-6 Big Ten) on Saturday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

After being upset by UCLA the night before, the Nittany Lions let out some frustration against the Trojans, making quick work of them in three sets.

In what was a balanced attack from Penn State, the Nittany Lions earned their third sweep in as many wins.

How It Happened

The game started sloppily on both sides, with the first point coming on an attack error from the Trojans’ Mia Tvrdy. USC then evened the score on a Penn State service error.

The first set continued as a back-and-forth affair, with kills from USC’s Adonia Faumuina and Abigail Mullen being matched by Kendall Northern and Whitney Lauenstein.

No team held an advantage higher than three points through the front half of the first set. Back-to-back Emmi Sellman kills halted USC momentum, giving the Nittany Lions a 16-13 lead.

After another kill by Mullen, Penn State went on a 7-1 run led by a trio of kills from Northern to go up 23-15. She finished the first set with a game-high five kills.

The first set finished after an attack error against Mullen gave Penn State a 25-17 win. USC had an astounding 11 attack errors in the first set alone.

Penn State carried its momentum into the second set, jumping out to an early 5-1 lead.

Lauenstein recorded two kills during this early burst after notching just one in the first set.

The Trojans would not be put away easily, as they went point-for-point with the Nittany Lions until the score reached 11-9.

Just as it seemed that USC had fought its way back, Penn State exploded for five straight points, punctuated by a powerful kill from Kennedy Martin to extend the 16-9 lead.

The game of runs continued, with the Trojans posting a 5-0 run of their own. Faumuina slammed consecutive kills, and a couple of Penn State attack errors shrank the lead to 18-16.

The Nittany Lions won the race to 20 points, but USC, propelled by two straight Leah Ford kills, got back within one, trailing just 20-19.

Northern and Lauenstein quickly responded with kills of their own to give Penn State a three-point cushion, but an error by Lauenstein made it just a 22-20 Nittany Lion lead.

After a Tvrdy kill, the Northern-Lauenstein tandem was back on full display, once again recording a kill a piece to put Penn State one point away from a set two victory.

USC scored twice to make it 24-23, but Martin slammed the door with her sixth kill of the match to take the second set.

Martin rode that momentum into the third set, kicking it off with back-to-back kills to give the Nittany Lions a quick 2-0 lead.

Penn State stayed in control throughout the early parts of the third set, relying on some self-inflicted Trojan errors to take a 9-7 advantage.

The combined effort from the Nittany Lions furthered their lead to 15-10 at the media timeout. Penn State last trailed when it was down 4-3 in the first set.

Martin became the first Nittany Lion to reach ten kills in the match, giving Penn State a 16-12 lead. It extended her streak of double-digit kill games to 11.

As it did at points throughout the match, USC kept hanging around, keeping the set within three points.

However, just as Penn State did, it exploded to end the game. After leading 20-17, it recorded four straight points to put it within a point of the sweep.

After a last-gasp effort from the Trojans, a Gabrielle Nichols kill gave Penn State the 25-19 set win and match victory.

Key Takeaways

• While it was not the most efficient day, Penn State still attacked at a much more successful rate than USC (.203 to .094).
• Penn State was able to capitalize on a number of USC errors, 35 of them to be exact. The Nittany Lions had just 22.
• Five Nittany Lions had six or more kills, with Kennedy Martin leading the team with 10.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions return to Rec Hall after an extended break, as they face Oregon at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 23. Folks can watch along on Big Ten Plus.