No. 15 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Outlasts No. 17 USC in B1G Opener
Kennedy Martin had 19 kills in the win
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball opened Big Ten play with its third nationally-ranked win of the season, outlasting No. 17 USC 3-2 (25-13, 25-22, 19-25, 19-25, 15-13) Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the Trojans dropped to 9-2, 0-1 B1G.
Kennedy Martin had a huge night for Penn State in its five-set thriller. She collected a double-double with 29 kills and 13 digs. She was not alone in earning a double-double, as Emmi Sellman racked up 14 kills to pair with her 15 digs.
Penn State had a strong night at the service line, earning seven aces. Gillian Grimes and Martin each had two, while Ava Falduto, Jordan Hopp, and Sellman had one apiece. The ace by Grimes wasn’t her only point of the match as the libero came through with her seventh-career kill.
All five players that recorded a dig for Penn State finished with double-digit digs for the match. Grimes led the way with 16. Joining her, Martin, and Sellman in double-figures were Falduto with 11 and Lyon with 10. Lyon gave the Nittany Lions three players with double-doubles as she added 43 assists.
Adonia Faumuina and London Wijay combined for 21 kills for USC.
Set 1
Penn State controlled the first set from start to finish, collecting a 25-13 win. The Nittany Lions had two separate runs of five or more points in the set. The first run was fueled by two kills from Caroline Jurevicius and Martin to push the score to 13-7 early. The teams then traded points in the middle of the set before Penn State took back the momentum and extended its lead up to 12 with its second scoring run to take a 21-9 advantage. The Nittany Lions had four players with three or more kills and hit .542 as a team.
Set 2
Martin hit .467 with nine kills to lead Penn State to a 25-22 win. The Nittany Lions used a 4-0 run to go up 16-12. All four points came on kills by Martin. USC fought back to tie the score at 17-all and the score was still tied at 20-20. Penn State pulled away with a 3-0 run that included kills by Martin, Grimes, and Jurevicius. Set point was later scored on a kill by Sellman.
Set 3
USC survived a late rally by Penn State and stayed alive with a 25-19 win in the third set. The Trojans controlled most of the early action and held a four-point lead at 10-6. USC then came alive with a 6-0 run to hold a 10-point lead with the score at 16-6. The Nittany Lions exploded with a 7-0 scoring run to push the score to 16-13. The run was fueled by Martin and Sellman, who combined for four kills during that stretch. Penn State continued to claw away at the USC lead until it was the Trojans who generated a 3-0 scoring run to close the set. The Trojans had three aces in the set to go along with eight blocks.
Set 4
Five USC players recorded three or more kills each in the fourth set to secure a 25-19 win. The set was tight in the early action before the Trojans came alive with a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead. The Nittany Lions only got as close as four the rest of the way.
Set 5
Martin hit .412 with eight kills to lead Penn State to the thrilling 15-13 win in set five. The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early lead with a 3-0 scoring run to make it 6-3. The Trojans immediately rallied with a 4-0 run of their own to grab a one-point lead at 7-6. After an attack error tied the score, it was Martin’s time to take over. She had a kill or block on each of Penn State’s final seven points, including the final kill for match point.
Up Next
No. 15 Penn State continues Big Ten play when it hosts UCLA on Sunday at noon. The match will stream on the B1G Network.