OMAHA, Neb. – Penn State middle blockers Kaitlyn Hord and Serena Gray were dominant while leading No. 13 Penn State to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-15) win over North Carolina A&T in the NCAA Second Round Thursday night at the CHI Health Center. The pair combined for 16 kills with no attack errors to help the Nittany Lions improve to 10-5 with their sixth-straight win.
Hord hit .750 with nine kills and zero attack errors on 12 swings, while Gray hit .778 with seven kills and no errors on nine attacks. Hord added three blocks and Gray tallied two.
The win puts Penn State into the NCAA Regional Semifinal round for the 18th-straight year. Up next for the Lions is fourth-seeded Texas. That match is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, on ESPNU. It will be the first matchup between the teams since 2013.
Penn State, which was playing for the first time in 26 days, fell behind 2-1 in the first set. The Lions never trailed at any point for the rest of the match against a North Carolina A&T Team that earned a spot in the national tournament by winning the MEAC title. The Aggies closed the season with an 11-2 record.
Fourteen players saw time on the court for Penn State. Despite getting multiple players their first postseason experience in the final set, the Lions went on an impressive 10-0 run to go up 20-5.
Freshman Annie Cate Fitzpatrick was solid in her postseason debut, matching her career best with four aces in addition to nine kills, four digs and two blocks. Jonni Parker matched Hord and Fitzpatrick for the team lead in kills with nine and added five digs and two blocks. Anastasiya Kudryashova contributed five kills and a block in her first career postseason match.
Maddy Bilinovic, another freshman making her debut, came through with a team-high eight digs. Jenna Hampton was right behind her with seven, helping Penn State hold the Aggies to a .133 hitting percentage.
Setter Gabby Blossom tallied 29 assists while leading Penn State to .352 hitting as a team.
Courtney Pitt paced the Aggies with seven kills, while Shaylynn Hall had a match-high four blocks.
Penn State improved to 105-32 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with all 137 postseason matches coming during Russ Rose's 42 seasons as head coach.
North Carolina A&T was playing in the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the first time in program history. The Aggies advanced past the opening round after Rice was forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Penn State and Texas have met in the NCAA Tournament just two times. The Lions beat the Longhorns to win the national title in 2009 and then defeated them in the national semifinal before going on to win the title again in 2010.
Texas advanced to the Regional Semifinal with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-16) win over Wright State on Thursday.