AMES, Iowa – No. 6 Penn State women's volleyball recorded its fourth-straight sweep to open the season Friday night, going on the road to beat Iowa State by scores of 25-22, 25-16, 25-16 at Hilton Coliseum. Sophomore Kaitlyn Hord led the way with 12 kills on .647 hitting and a pair of block assists.
The Nittany Lions improved to 4-0 overall and have won the first 12 sets of the season for the second straight year. The set streak ended at 15 last season. They will wrap up play at the Cyclone Invitational with a match against LSU on Saturday at 3 p.m. (EST).
Iowa State, which was coming off wins over Ole Miss and South Dakota, fell to 2-2. Penn State played a match in Ames, Iowa, for the first time in program history.
The Nittany Lions' streak of sets without a loss looked to be in jeopardy early as Iowa State came out strong with a 9-3 lead that was aided by two attack errors and one service error. Penn State came alive after a momentum-changing call on a challenge. Initially, an attack by Jonni Parker was ruled out, but was changed after review. That brought the Lions within five, 15-10, and was followed by four straight points with Parker serving. The last was an ace that cut the deficit to one, 15-14.
Penn State still trailed late in the opening set, 20-18, before scoring three straight points to take its first lead. Sophomore Gabby Blossom set up a pair of kills by sophomore Serena Gray, the second of which tied the match. Iowa State committed an attack error that put the Nittany Lions up 21-20.
Another 3-0 run secured the first set for Penn State. With the score tied at 22-all, Hord and Parker recorded back-to-back kills before another Iowa State attack error gave the Lions a 1-0 lead in the match.
Sets two and three were far less dramatic as Penn State rolled to back-to-back 25-16 wins. The Lions led by as much as 10 in the second set.
Parker joined Hord in double-digits with 10 kills while hitting .391. Gray hit .500 and tallied nine kills. Sophomore Allyson Cathey added six, while redshirt senior Tori Gorrell contributed four, including one to clinch the match.
Senior Kendall White registered a season-high 13 digs, putting her in double-digits for the third-straight match. Blossom put together a solid all-around performance with 32 assists, seven digs and two blocks.
Penn State finished with four aces as Parker, Gray, Blossom, and White recorded one apiece.
Candelaria Herrera was outstanding for Iowa State, tallying 10 kills with a .600 hitting percentage. Piper Mauck posted a double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs.
