UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Jonni Parker reached three career milestones in the same match as No. 12 Penn State women's volleyball swept Rutgers 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-19) in Big Ten action Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 6-5 overall and in the conference, while Rutgers dropped to 2-11, 2-11.
Parker finished with nine kills, six digs and three blocks, giving her 908 kills, 500 digs and 202 blocks for her career. Just a junior, Parker has the rest of this season and at least one more year to add to her totals.
While Parker hit the career milestones, it was Kaitlyn Hord and Serena Gray that turned in big-time performances from their spots in the middle against Rutgers. Hord led the team with 12 kills on .500 hitting and added four block assists. Gray hit a sparkling .700 with eight kills on 10 swings and also totaled four block assists. They helped Penn State hit .348 as a team while holding Rutgers to a .125 clip,
Gabby Blossom guided that offensive effort with 34 assists. Jenna Hampton led the defensive play with a match-high 11 digs. Maddy Bilinovic wasn't far behind Hampton with seven digs. Blossom added six.
Freshman Annie Cate Fitzpatrick continued her strong play as of late with seven kills, two aces and four total blocks. She has seen a big improvement in her serving recently, totaling eight aces over the past three matches. She leads the team with 13 on the season.
Penn State never trailed after being down 4-3 in the first set and 6-5 in the third set, but the second set went down to the wire before the Lions pulled out the 25-23 win.
Rutgers led 18-15 in the second set before Penn State went on a 4-0 run that included kills by Gray and Hord and a block by Hord and Anastasiya Kudryashova. Gray was at the service line for each of the final three points of the run.
The Scarlet Knights eventually took a 23-22 lead, but the Lions responded with a 3-0 run to close the set. Parker and Fitzpatrick had back-to-back kills to put the Lions up 24-23. Set point came on a solo block by Fitzpatrick.
Penn State has won 27 straight matches dating back to 1982 in the series with Rutgers. The Lions have dropped just one set to the Scarlet Knights during that stretch.
Rutgers was paced by Beka Kojadinovic with eight kills and seven digs. Kamila Cieslik served for a pair of aces.
Penn State and Rutgers will play at Rec Hall again on Saturday at 7 p.m. The match will air live on Big Ten Network.