No. 11 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Upsets No. 7 Wisconsin 3-2
No. 11 Penn State women’s volleyball (19-5, 11-3 Big Ten) upset No. 7 Wisconsin (17-7, 11-3 Big Ten) in five sets Sunday evening in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Nittany Lions were fueled by Kennedy Martin, who had 28 kills and 12 digs, and Lexi Gin, who tied her career high with six digs. Whitney Lauenstein also had a double-digit kill total with 15.
How It Happened
Haley Burgdorf opened the match with a service ace after Audrey Flanagan made a reception error. The Badgers quickly struck back as a kill from Lynney Tarnow found the floor before Martin could connect to tie the score at one apiece.
After back-to-back attack errors from Lauenstein and Martin following a successful challenge by Kelly Sheffield, the Badgers took a quick 5-2 lead before a kill from Gabrielle Nichols, with help from Alexis Stucky, found the floor to cut the deficit to two.
An attack error from Decelise Champion, a kill from Lauenstein from the back row, and a service error from Stucky sent the Nittany Lions into the media timeout down 15-11.
Wisconsin went on a 4-1 scoring run late in the first set after a pair of kills from Champion and Auguste and a solo block from Lynney, but Martin added another kill. Nichols recorded a service error, and the Badgers took a 19-14 lead.
After recording their sixth service error of the match, the Nittany Lions were forced to call a timeout to regroup, down five. Out of the timeout, Champion and Auguste blocked a shot from Lauenstein before Kendall Northern and Lauenstein blocked a shot from Champion to cut the Nittany Lion deficit to four.
Burgdorf starts us off with an ACE!
— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) November 8, 2026#WeAre pic.twitter.com/gJ0i7XoOYK
Flanagan found the floor for the Badgers to set Wisconsin up for set point No. 1. After an assist from Auguste and Charlie Fuerbringer to Martin, the Badgers took set one 25-20.
To open the second set, Champion found the floor on a misconnect between Martin and Burgdorf, before the Nittany Lions got back-to-back kills from Nichols and Martin.
After a serve from Burgdorf, Travis got a touch on it and sent it over toward Burgdorf, who sent it back toward the crowd, but an incredible save from Jocelyn Nathan kept the ball alive. The rally ended when Travis put it down between Nathan and Lauenstein to tie the score at seven.
After a 5-0 scoring run, Penn State was surging ahead 15-10 going into the media timeout after an attack error from Flanagan.
A kill from Champion that went past Martin ended the 5-0 scoring run and cut the Badger deficit to four.
After an 8-2 scoring run from the Nittany Lions ending with two kills from Northern, Wisconsin called its first timeout of the set down six.
Down nine, Wisconsin utilized its second timeout of the set after a kill from Martin, a solo block from Nichols and a kill from Lauenstein.
A service error from Fuerbringer set the Nittany Lions up for its first set point of the night after Martin recorded her 15th kill of the evening to help the Nittany Lions take set two, 25-18.
The Badgers went on a 3-0 scoring run with a kill from Travis and back-to-back attack errors from Northern. Stucky connected with Emmi Sellman to cut Penn State’s deficit to one, down 7-6.
After a 3-0 run from Wisconsin, Penn State fell to 9-13 and called a timeout. Wisconsin was led by Champion, who had two kills and Sellman’s block error. Out of the timeout, Martin and Nichols connected to block a kill from Flanagan, cutting the deficit to three.
A set from Falduto found Fuerbringer, who connected with Auguste to find the floor, and Champion’s ninth kill of the night sent the Badgers into the media timeout up 15-11. Out of the timeout, Sellman recorded a kill to cut the deficit to three.
A net violation on Lauenstein made the Badgers the first to 20 before a service error from Stucky extended the Badger lead to two.
An attack error from Lauenstein put the Badgers at set point, with the Nittany Lions trailing by six. Martin recorded a kill with the help of Stucky to set up a set point two for the Badgers. A kill from Champion put the Badgers up 2-1, and they won set three 25-20.
Wisconsin went on a 4-2 scoring run to open the third period. Back-to-back attack errors from Champion and Flanagan sent the Nittany Lions on a 4-0 scoring run. Auguste’s kill ended the run.
Martin recorded a kill off the Badger block before recording back-to-back service aces for the Nittany Lions, forcing a Wisconsin timeout with Penn State leading 9-5. Out of the timeout, Martin recorded her third consecutive service ace, making the Nittany Lions the first to reach double digits and leading by five.
After Lauenstein’s 11th kill of the game, the Nittany Lions went into the media timeout, up 15-10. Out of the timeout, Martin’s kill sent Penn State on a 3-0 scoring run.
Trailing by seven, Wisconsin called its final timeout of the set after a kill from Lauenstein and a net violation called on Flanagan. Champion found the floor to cut the Badger deficit to six out of the timeout.
After the Badgers went on a 2-0 scoring run, Katie Schumacher-Cawley called a timeout before Champion recorded her 17th kill. After confusion from both teams, officials issued a yellow card to the Badgers, but they quickly continued their scoring run to 5-0.
After a swing by Champion that Lauenstein and Northern blocked, Penn State was set up for set point, and a kill from Lauenstein tied the match at two sets each, with Penn State winning set four 25-19.
Back-to-back K-Mart ACES!
— Penn State Women’s Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) November 8, 2026
Wisconsin calls timeout #WeAre pic.twitter.com/WQWDuHn30A
Champion recorded her 18th kill of the game to take an early 2-1 lead over Penn State, but a kill from Nichols and a net violation on Flanagan gave Penn State a 3-2 lead.
Penn State went on a 3-0 scoring run with three consecutive kills before a kill from Auguste cut the Badger lead to one. Schumaker-Cawley challenged the kill from Auguste for out of bounds, but it was unsuccessful.
Down three, Wisconsin utilized its first timeout of the set after back-to-back kills from Martin and Sellman. Out of the timeout, Martin found the back line to take a 7-3 lead.
After a net violation on Lauenstein and a bad set by Stucky, Schumacher-Cawley called the first timeout of the set for the Nittany Lions, down two. Out of the timeout, Launstein hit on the Badger block, but it was out of bounds off the Wisconsin block.
The Badgers quickly capitalized on Nittany Lion errors to tie at 10, before an attack error from Champion and a service ace from Stucky gave Penn State an 11-9 lead.
After back-to-back kills from Martin and Flanagan, a service error from Wardlow forced a Wisconsin timeout with the Badgers down two.
Out of the timeout, a kill from Sellman set Penn State up for match point, up three. A kill from Martin led the Nittany Lions to a massive upset over No. 7 Wisconsin, 3-2.
Takeaways
- Penn State was plagued by service errors in the first set, recording seven, while Wisconsin recorded only one.
- In the first two sets, Kennedy Martin recorded 15 kills, but at the media timeout in the third set, Wisconsin held her to just one kill.
- Lexi Gin continued to prove she is a secret weapon for the Nittany Lions, holding down the back-row passing. Gin tied her career-high with six digs.
- In the fifth set, Penn State was plagued with errors, giving up several points off of violations and service errors.
What’s Next?
Penn State will continue its road stretch with a clash in Maryland against the Maryland Terrapins on Wednesday. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus for folks to watch at home. The first set is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
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