UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Kaitlyn Hord was unstoppable for Penn State women's volleyball Saturday night at Rec Hall, totaling a career-high 24 kills on .535 hitting to help the Nittany Lions hang on for a 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 15-13) win over Michigan State.
Penn State improved to 17-7 overall and 10-4 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State fell to 10-13 overall and 3-11 in the conference. The Lions sit in fourth in the standings, just one match behind second-place Nebraska and Minnesota and two behind first-place Wisconsin.
Saturday's match was the program's second-ever Silent Set, in which the crowd was asked to remain silent until Penn State scored its ninth point of the first set. The event is held in honor of senior All-American Jonni Parker, a hearing-impaired student athlete who wears jersey No. 9, and to raise awareness for the deaf and hard of hearing community.
It was only fitting then that the match was decided on the arm of Parker. Penn State took a 2-0 lead before Michigan State battled back with two straight set wins to send it to a fifth. The teams continued to play even in the final set, playing to a 13-13 tie. The Lions went up 14-13 on a block by Hord and Anjelina Starck, and Parker followed with the match-clinching kill. It was her 18th kill of the match. She added seven digs and three blocks.
Parker was determined to get the win in front of a large group of family and friends in the Silent Set match. She led all players with five kills in the final set.
Penn State prevailed despite an outstanding effort by Michigan State's Sarah Franklin, who finished with 27 kills, 10 digs and three blocks. The Lions did so in large part due to the play of Hord, who was strong from start to finish. In addition to her career-high kill total, Hord added six blocks. She had just one error on her 43 attacks.
Hord's 24 kills eclipsed her previous career high of 21 set in a five-set match at Wisconsin earlier this season. She is hitting .432 on the season while averaging 2.94 kills/set. She has been dominant in conference play, hitting a league-best .472 in 56 sets.
Adanna Rollins powered the Lions to a four-set win over Michigan on Friday and was a major contributor in the win over the Spartans on Saturday.
Penn State has won 14 straight matches in the series with Michigan State. The current senior class is a perfect 6-0 against the Spartans. She finished with 12 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Starck also had 12 kills and just missed a double-double with nine digs.
Setter Gabby Blossom has led Penn State to the best hitting percentage in the Big Ten in conference play at .273. The Lions hit .292 against the Sparts behind 57 assists from Blossom. She added 13 digs and three blocks. Libero Jenna Hampton had eight assists and tallied a team-high 22 digs.
Michigan State hit .316 in the match, but the Lions held the Spartans to .125 hitting in the deciding set. Naya Gros joined Franklin in hitting better than .400, coming in with nine kills on a .421 clip.
The Lions have the same two opponents next weekend as they did this weekend, except they travel to the state of Michigan to play both. The take on Michigan on Friday and will play at Michigan State on Saturday.