No. 13 Penn State (17-5, 9-3 Big Ten) defeated No. 11 Purdue (14-7) (7-5 Big Ten) 3-1 in its Senior Day matchup, celebrating Kennedy Martin, Whitney Lauenstein, Alexis Stucky, Jocelyn Nathan, and Caroline Jurevicius.  

Martin led all hitters with 24 kills, also tallying nine digs and six blocks. Stucky dished out 40 assists and had five kills, and Nathan had nine digs.  

How It Happened

Kendall Northern opened up the match with a slide kill from Alexis Stucky before Kate Hansen responded with a shot down the line. Kennedy Martin exploded out of the back row, and two Boilermaker errors had the Nittany Lions ahead 4-1. 

Dior Charles swung off the block, and Addy Tindall landed a shot in the seam. Charles shot out of the middle, but Gabrielle Nichols and Martin combined for a block and the 6-4 advantage. 

Charles rose for a solo stuff, and a Nittany Lion attack error tied the set at 6-6. Martin ripped a cross-court shot, and a Northern-Stucky block forced a Purdue timeout with Penn State leading 9-6. 

The Boilermakers had back-to-back attack errors out of the timeout, but Lameen Mambu and Hansen rose for the block to cut the deficit to three. Stucky sent over a quick dump, but Hansen responded, her swing ricocheting into the stands. 

Whitney Lauenstein found her first kill of the match, then followed with another swing down the line, sending the Nittany Lions into the media timeout with a 15-10 lead. 

Charles registered a kill out of the break, and Tindall threw down a tight ball at the net. Martin swung hard off the block, and Lexi Gin floated over an ace, her sixth of the season. 

Emmi Sellman swatted down an overpass, prompting a Purdue timeout with the Nittany Lions leading 18-12. 

Grace Heaney tipped over the block, but Nichols hammered down a dish from Stucky, and Sellman unloaded on a pass from Gin for the 20-13 Penn State advantage. 

Heaney ripped a ball off the Nittany Lion defense, and the teams traded errors to set the score at 21-15. Sellman caught fingertips on her swing, and a Purdue net violation had the Nittany Lions closing in on set one. 

Mambu registered her first kill, and a Penn State attack error awarded the Boilermakers two quick points. A Purdue attack error gave the Nittany Lions set point, and a Stucky kill secured the set one victory, 25-17. 

Northern and Stucky earned the first two points of set two for the Nittany Lions, courtesy of a block. Heaney notched a kill, and Hanson delivered an ace to tie the set at 2-2.

Stucky sent down a second touch, but Tindall responded with a roll shot. Charles and Tindall tag-teamed for the block before Martin soared for her fourth kill of the match. 

Heaney took her hand at an off-speed ball, but Nichols grazed the right-side line to keep the set knotted. Heaney fired for her third kill of the set, while Martin delivered another point on the next play.

The Nittany Lions crept forward after two Nichols aces, but the Boilermakers recovered with a Heaney-Hansen block. Martin swung through the block, and Sellman skied for a solo stuff to put the Nittany Lions ahead 10-7. 

Mambu swung hard off Nittany Lion hands before Sellman had a clean shot to the middle of the floor. Anderson and Hansen registered a block, but Lauenstein responded with a swing to the backline. 

Nichols tipped off the slide, but two Penn State attack errors made it a one-point set at 13-12. Martin and Heaney took turns tooling the block, but it was Martin who sent the teams into the media timeout. 

Sellman and Mambu traded kills out of the break, and Tindall landed a cross-court kill to tie the set at 16-16. Lily Bosworth’s solo stuff prompted Penn State to use its first timeout of the match, with the Boilermakers taking the lead, 17-16. 

Tindall swung for her fifth kill, and Northern responded on the slide. Sellman dove for a tough save, but Tindall took advantage of the empty court for another kill. 

The Boilermakers were the first to 20, with Charles sneaking through the block. Tindall continued her dominance, leading all Purdue hitters and forcing another Penn State timeout. 

Anderson and Charles teamed up for a block, and Sienna Foster served an ace. Tindall unloaded on Anderson’s set, but Martin halted Purdue’s run. Tindall sealed set two, 25-18, and the Boilermakers tied the match at 1-1. 

Tindall tipped off the block to start set three, and an Anderson-Bosworth block gave Purdue the early 2-1 lead. Lauenstein hammered a shot to middle court, and Sellman followed suit. 

Sellman and Northern put up a wall, and a Purdue attack error flipped the lead to Penn State, 4-3. Charles grazed the line on a cross shot, but Martin and Northern responded with a block. 

Heaney’s swing was dug out of bounds before Northern and Sellman rose for the block. Northern hammered down an overpass, but Mambu answered with a swing through the block. 

Both sides exchanged errors before Heaney landed a sharp four-to-four shot. Stucky notched an ace, and Penn State challenged a Purdue kill, looking for a net violation, but was unsuccessful. 

Lauenstein and Martin delivered back-to-back kills for the 12-10 lead, but two Penn State errors tied the set at 12-12. Martin laced a ball to the backline, but Tindall found fingertips. 

Martin unloaded once again, but two tips from Heaney gave Purdue the 15-14 advantage at the media timeout. 

Charles and Mambu rose for the block out of the break, and Charles fired out of the middle, prompting a Penn State timeout with the Boilermakers ahead, 17-14. 

Sellman swung off the block, Heanery answering with her eleventh kill. After a slew of errors, Martin unleashed on a ball set up by Jocelyn Nathan, tying the set at 19-19. 

Out of a Purdue timeout, Martin and Nichols skied for a block, and Purdue challenged a touch call, but was unsuccessful. 

Nichols drilled a shot out of the middle, and Martin tipped off the block for the 23-20 lead, causing another Purdue timeout. 

Tindall sliced through the block, but a chaotic rally was ended by Martin for set point, and Rec Hall exploded after Northern and Martin ended the set with a massive block, 25-21. 

Bosworth and Tindall delivered kills for a 2-0 set four lead before Martin found her fifteenth kill of the match. A Penn State block party gave the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead, with Sellman, Nichols, and Martin all getting touches. 

Charles tacked on two kills for the Boilermakers, while Martin and Sellman unloaded to keep the one-point advantage. A solo block from Charles tied the set at 5-5. 

Martin hammered a shot, while Bosworth snuck through the block for a kill on the next play. Anderson and Bosworth rose for the block before Northern landed her swing. 

Northern’s serve kissed the backline for an ace before Bosworth and Martin delivered kills. Bosworth swung past the block, and Martin’s swing was dug to the stands. 

Both sides continued to trade points; Anderson’s roll shot fell, but Martin notched a cross-court kill for the 11-10 Penn State lead. Charles swung through the block, and Sellman’s off-speed shot dropped in for a point.

Sellman ripped a shot from the outside, but Heaney and Bosworth built a wall at the net. Stucky sent over a sneaky dump, and a Boilermaker attack error had Penn State leading, 15-13, at the media timeout. 

Heaney found her twelfth kill out of the break, with Northern answering with a quick swing. Mambu registered a kill, and Tindall added a point off of a tip for the 17-16 Boilermaker lead. 

Penn State called a timeout after another Tidall kill. Lauenstein delivered from the outside, but Bosworth and Tindall secured back-to-back points for the 20-17 Purdue lead. 

Sellman’s swing was sent back to the band, but Charles dropped a tip over the block after a gritty rally. Martin’s roll shot fell just over the block, and Sellman tied the set at 21-21 with her eleventh kill. 

Sellman kept it rolling after a Purdue timeout with another big swing. Charles landed a kill, but rhythm stayed with Penn State as Martin drilled a ball to the floor.

Stucky went to her tried-and-true dump, giving the Nittany Lions set point, and Rec Hall erupted after Martin delivered the match-sealing kill to the back corner for the 25-23 set win and 3-1 match victory. 

Takeaways:

• This match was close across the board, with statistics not differing much between both teams. Purdue had 53 kills on .197 hitting, while Penn State had 57 kills on .205 hitting. Both teams had 12 blocks.
• Kennedy Martin is just nine kills away from 2,000 on her career. Nine hundred eighty-seven of her kills come from her two seasons with Penn State. 
• Emmi Sellman continues to prove her ability to come up with kills in high-intensity matches. Sellman had 12 kills on .229 hitting, her first double-digit kill match of the season. 
• Alexis Stucky is more than just a distributor for this Nittany Lion team. The setter had five kills, eight digs, and three blocks in addition to her 40 assists. Stucky has been finding success on second-touch dumps, as well as the slide with her middle hitters. 

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will begin a four-game road trip against No. 21 Minnesota at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6. The game will be available on Big Ten Plus.

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