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Craig Houtz

Hord Leads No. 5 Women’s Volleyball’s Sweep of No. 18 Oregon

STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 5 Penn State women's volleyball team swept the No. 18 Oregon Ducks, 3-0: 25-23, 25-23, 25-19, behind an impressive performance from freshman Kaitlyn Hord as the Nittany Lions finished the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge with a 1-1 record and move to 6-1 on the season.

Hord, a freshman from Lexington, Kentucky, put down 16 kills in just three sets, the most by a player for Penn State so far this season. Hord was also efficient, hitting .556 for the match, and added a huge defensive spark as she added seven blocks.

Surrounding Hord's performance, the rest of the Nittany Lions offense was very balanced as Nia Reed, Taylor Leath and Serena Gray added nine, seven and six kills, respectively.

Gray added six blocks and a career-best three aces to her stat line, while Reed and Leath added three blocks a piece.

Freshman Jonni Parker added four kills, seven digs and three blocks on the day.

Senior setter Bryanna Weiskircher dished out a season-high 37 assists, orchestrating the offense to a .236 clip. She also added nine digs, four blocks and an ace.

Libero Kendall White continued her spectacular play as she scooped up a match-high 18 digs.

On the match, the Nittany Lions out-blocked the Ducks, 14.5-5.0, and scored 62.5 point to the Ducks, 47.0.

Penn State returns to action on Friday, September 14 at 7 p.m. at Howard University.