UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 4 Penn State won an exciting first set and nearly pulled off a huge comeback in set two but came up short in a 3-1 loss to No. 1 Stanford in front of 5,178 fans in non-conference women's volleyball action Friday night at Rec Hall. The Cardinal bounced back from a 29-27 loss in set one to take the next three by 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 scores.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Hord led the Nittany Lions against the defending national champions, recording 16 kills with a .517 hitting percentage and six total blocks. Sophomore Gabby Blossom registered the team's first double-double of the season with a career-high 52 assists and 10 digs. Her previous career high in assists was 41 during her freshman season.
Penn State did a solid job defending senior Kathryn Plummer, the two-time reigning AVCA National Player of the Year. She tied for the match high with 18 kills, but it came on 46 attacks and .217 hitting. Audriana Fitzmorris stepped up with 18 kills on .341 hitting, while Madeleine Gates finished with 10 kills on .450 hitting.
The first set had the large crowd on Wear White night on their feet as Penn State outlasted Stanford to get the two-point win. The Lions faced set point before sophomore Allyson Cathey came through with back-to-back kills to set the home team up for set point. A kill by Jonni Parker put the Lions up one, 28-27, and they closed it out on their fourth chance with a kill by Hord.
Hord and Parker were both outstanding in the opening set, leading the way with six kills apiece. Hord had a .667 hitting percentage and no errors in the set, while Parker hit .308.
Penn State came out flat in the second set, falling behind 7-1 early. The outcome of the set appeared to be locked up when Stanford went up by 10 (19-9), but the Nittany Lions showed fight and began a tremendous comeback attempt. They chipped away at the lead before a 4-0 run cut the deficit to three, 21-18. The Lions got within one, 22-21, thanks to back-to-back kills by Tori Gorrell and Parker. They pulled within one again at 24-23 on a kill by Hord, but Stanford tied the match with the next point.
It was more of the same in the third set as the teams went down to the wire again, battling to a 23-23 tie. Fitzmorris gave Stanford the lead with a kill and then put her team ahead 2-1 in the match as she combined with Holly Campbell on a block. The Cardinal then went on to clinch the match with a 25-21 victory in set four.
Gorrell and Cathey each finished with nine kills. Gorrell added five blocks, while Cathey contributed three. Sophomore Serena Gray posted 10 kills on. 368 hitting.
Three Penn State players totaled double-digit digs, led by senior Kendall White with 22 and sophomore Jenna Hampton with 11. It was a season high for both players.
Stanford (eight) and Penn State (seven) have combined for 15 national titles while ranking as the top two schools in that category. The two storied programs are now even in the all-time series at 12-12.
It was the first loss of the season for Penn State, which dropped to 5-1, while Stanford stayed unbeaten at 5-0. The Nittany Lions will face another top-10 team when they play No. 10 Oregon in the final match of the Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge on Saturday. The Ducks opened the tournament with a 3-0 loss to No. 8 Minnesota on Friday.
