SEATTLE, Wash. – No. 17 Penn State couldn’t overcome a slow start in a 3-2 (25-11, 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 15-13) loss to Washington in Big Ten women’s volleyball action Friday night at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Nittany Lions fell to 10-7 overall and 4-3 in the conference, while the Huskies upped their mark to 9-8, 4-3.
Kennedy Martin finished with 17 kills to lead a group of four Nittany Lions in double-digits. Maggie Mendelson and Caroline Jurevicius totaled 12 kills apiece, while Emmi Sellman chipped in with 10.
Both teams’ liberos put up big numbers in the match. Washington’s Zoria Heard led all players with 27 digs, while Penn State’s Gillian Grimes tallied 24. The Nittany Lions’ also received a career-high 16 digs from Jocelyn Nathan.
Penn State was often doomed by its own miscues, racking up 30 attack errors, 22 of which didn’t come on a Washington block, 17 service errors, two setting errors, and one net error on a block attempt.
On the other hand, the service errors were coupled with 10 aces. Grimes and Jordan Hopp turned in three apiece, Martin had two, and Nathan and Ava Falduto each contributed one.
Washington was paced by Alexa Markley with 16 kills on .308 hitting in addition to 13 digs. Simona Mateska also had a double-double hitting .393 with 13 kills and 14 digs.
Penn State is now 4-3 in the all-time series with Washington.
Set 1
Penn State hit -.054 despite just two blocks by Washington as the Huskies rolled to a 25-11 win in the first set. Mateska was the go-to player for the Huskies with four kills on five swings.
Set 2
Markley hit .833 with five kills to lead Washington to a 25-17 win in the second set. Penn State never held a lead for the second-straight set.
Set 3
Penn State came alive to win a back-and-forth third set 25-23. The set featured 18 ties and four lead changes. Martin carried the load offensively with six kills for the Nittany Lions. The team also had three aces, getting two from Grimes and one from Hopp. Penn State held the largest lead of the set at 12-9 following a 3-0 run that included kills by Hopp and Addie Lyon. The Nittany Lions trailed late at 22-21 before going on another 3-0 run. This one started with a kill by Martin and was capped by a pair of aces by Grimes. Washington fended off the first attempt at set point, but Martin followed with a kill after a Penn State timeout.
Set 4
Jurevicius hit .500 with five kills and Martin matched her with five kills of her own to lead Penn State to a 25-20 win in set four. The Nittany Lions served for four more aces, getting two from Hopp and one apiece from Grimes and Nathan. Penn State started fast with a 5-0 run that included kills by Sellman and Martin and back-to-back aces by Hopp. Washington battled back to knot the score at 9-9 but was never able to take the lead. Jurevicius responded with back-to-back kills to give the Nittany Lions the lead for good. They went on to lead by as much as five at 20-15 after an ace by Grimes and then again with the final score of 25-20 following a Washington attack error.
Set 5
Penn State lost 15-13 in the final set despite hitting .318 with 10 kills. Washington jumped out to a 4-1 lead early and Penn State was never able to fully recover. The Nittany Lions did get within one at 11-10 after a 3-0 run. They got back within one at 12-11 thanks to a kill by Martin and again at 14-13 with a kill by Mendelson. The Huskies called timeout before closing the match with a kill from Markley.
Career Highs
Jordan Hopp – aces (3)
Jocelyn Nathan – digs (16)
Up Next
Penn State heads to Eugene to play Oregon on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET. The Ducks are 12-5 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten after beating No. 18 Minnesota 3-1 on Friday.