No. 10 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Maryland On The Road
No. 10 Penn State women’s volleyball (20-15, 12-3 Big Ten) swept Maryland (13-13, 3-12 Big Ten) on Wednesday night in Big Ten play, extending its win streak to eight games.
Kennedy Martin led the offensive attack with 17 kills. Gabrielle Nichols and Emmi Sellman added eight kills apiece. Kendall Northern had a game-high six blocks, while Alexis Stucky dished out 40 assists.
How It Happened
The Nittany Lion front row started hot, with Whitney Lauenstein, Gabrielle Nichols, and Kennedy Martin registering kills for a 4-0 lead. Alexis Stucky tacked on an ace to extend the run.
Brooklynne Brass landed the Terrapins’ first point, and an Ava Brown kill set the score at 5-3. Martin and Brown exchanged swings from the right side before Eva Rohrbach recorded her first of the set.
Nichols connected on a quick set from Stucky, and Martin followed with a deep swing. After Sydney Bryant grazed the block, Kendall Northern executed a slide with Stucky for a 10-7 lead. Maryland answered with a triple block on Emmi Sellman and a Bryant kill to cut the deficit to one.
Lauenstein notched her third kill, Nichols and Stucky combined for a block, and Nichols’ swing out of the middle prompted a Maryland timeout as Penn State extended its lead to 13-9.
Bryant answered with a cross-court kill before Stucky scored on a quick dump. Ioanna Dimitriou and Brass double-teamed for a block, but Martin’s kill sent Penn State into the media timeout ahead, 15-11.
The Terrapins struck first out of the break with a Rohrbach-Brown block, but Martin unloaded on a ball that was dug out of bounds. Rohrbach tooled the block, and a Maryland challenge was successful, awarding Bryant a kill.
Northern’s swing deflected off the block, and Sellman delivered an ace for the 19-14 advantage, prompting a Maryland timeout. Bryant swung off the block before Stucky dumped down the line.
Northern served an ace off the tape for a 21-15 lead. Brass answered with a back-row kill, but Lauenstein responded with a swing off the block. Nichols recorded a kill for set point, and Martin sealed the set with a cross-court kill, giving Penn State a 25-17 victory.
Brown opened the scoring for the Terrapins, but Martin quickly evened the set at one apiece. Nichols and Sellman skied for a block, and Lauenstein followed with a service ace, giving Penn State a 4-1 lead.
Brown swung off the block, but Nichols landed a kill at the 10-foot line. Martin added a point off a sharply cut ball, and Sellman’s shot flew off the Terrapin block. Sara Toth snuck over a dump, and a Nittany Lion error brought the Terrapins within two.
Bryant tipped over the block before Martin responded with a heavy rip. Sellman landed her second ace, and two straight Maryland errors forced a Terrapins timeout with Penn State leading 11-6.
Bryant and Brown backed a 3-0 run for Maryland before Stucky and Martin notched kills for the Nittany Lions. Dimitriou struck from the middle, and Brass sent a roll shot to the back corner.
Lauenstein’s ball deflected off the block with Penn State leading 15-12 at the media timeout. Stucky’s serve was shanked, and Lauenstein tooled the block, prompting a Maryland timeout.
Dimitriou hammered off the block, and back-to-back aces from Raina Chwialkowski had the Terrapins creeping back, 17-15. Martin scored three straight points in the form of two kills and a block alongside Nichols, extending the lead to 21-15.
Sellman and Haley Melby used the block on their respective sides. Sellman and Northern put up a wall for set point, and Martin once again closed out the set, with Penn State taking the 25-16 win.
Nichols tipped to start set three, and Haley Burgdorf landed her first kill from the back row. Two Nittany Lion errors tied the set at 2-2, and Martin and Brown traded kills to keep the score knotted.
Sellman’s swing kissed the back line, and a Northern-Martin block gave Penn State the 5-3 advantage. Sellman connected with Stucky, Northern combined with Sellman and Martin in back-to-back blocks, and Northern’s fiery swing led to a Maryland timeout.
Hitters on both sides traded swings in the middle part of the set, with Penn State holding a three-point lead. Rohrbach, Sellman, Bryant, and Northern all recorded kills.
Bryant’s roll shot fell, and Martin hammered down her fifteenth kill. Bryant sent a shot down the line while Martin sent hers to the backline. Martin toed the block, and Nichols’ swing led to the media timeout. Penn State led 15-10.
Brown landed a kill before a 5-0 Nittany Lion run. Sellman and Northern notched kills, Martin and Northern tag-teamed for the block, and Ava Falduto served two straight aces to extend their lead to 20-11.
Rohrbach ended Penn State’s rally, but Sellman found the back corner on her swing. Bryant remained the Terrapins’ most dominant force, delivering two kills for Maryland, but Lauenstein swung hard off the block. Nichols delivered the final blow, with Penn State taking the 25-15 set win and 3-0 match sweep.
Takeaways
- Penn State’s offense featured a balanced attack, with five hitters landing five or more kills. This was the perfect match to get solid reps across multiple hitters ahead of the Big Ten Tournament.
- The Nittany Lions had a season-low nine hitting errors, and limited their service errors to four. With the postseason quickly approaching, controlling the controllables will be crucial come the tournament.
- An impressive eight service aces and a .426 team hitting percentage should provide some positive mojo heading into the final two games of the regular season.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will play their final regular-season road game against No. 25 Illinois at 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 11. The match will be available on Big Ten Plus.
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