No. 5 Penn State Bounces Back with Sweep Over Iowa
The Lions Hit .422 in the Match
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Kaitlyn Hord, Serena Gray, and Jonni Parker all hit better than .400 with at least eight kills to lead No. 5 Penn State to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) win over Iowa in a Big Ten women’s volleyball match Saturday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions hit .422 as a team as they improved to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten.
Hord had zero attack errors on the night, hitting .688 with 11 kills and five total blocks. It was the sophomore’s third match this season with double-digit kills and a hitting percentage higher than .500. She has recorded at least five total blocks in a match eight times this season, including each of the last three contests.
Gray put together a solid all-around performance with nine kills, a .500 hitting percentage, two aces, and three total blocks. Parker did the same with eight kills on .444 hitting, two aces, six digs, and two total blocks.
Kendall White set herself up to take over the No. 2 spot for digs in Penn State’s career record book. She tallied eight against Iowa, giving her 1,1684 for her career, putting her just two shy of passing Kim Kumfer (1989-92) on the all-time list.
Keeton Holcomb added five digs for Penn State, while Allyson Cathey had three in addition to five kills and three total blocks. Jenna Hampton also had three digs.
The Lions recorded double-digit service errors for the second-straight match with 13, but the errors came along with seven aces. Macall Peed had two after entering the match with just two for the entire season.
Iowa dropped to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten. Penn State improved to 54-0 in the all-time series between the teams.
Courtney Buzzerio paced the Hawkeyes in a losing effort, posting 13 kills on .348 hitting.
The latest Penn State trailed in a set was at 8-7 in the third. The last time they were behind in the first set was at 5-4, and the Lions never trailed in the second set.
Penn State is back at Rec Hall for two Big Ten matches next weekend. The Lions, who play 10 of their first 14 matches of the season at home, host Maryland on Friday and Ohio State on Saturday.