CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 8 Penn State turned in a dominant performance over a nationally-ranked opponent for the second-straight match, sweeping No. 25 Illinois 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18) in Big Ten women's volleyball action Friday night at Huff Hall.
The Nittany Lions won for the 11th time in 12 matches as they improved to 20-4 overall and 13-2 in the Big Ten. The sweep came just one match after they beat then-No. 15 Purdue in four sets at Rec Hall.
Bolstered by a .464 percentage in the final set, Penn State hit .308 for the match. A trio of players fueled that efficiency, led by Jonni Parker at .462 with 12 kills and 10 digs. Kaitlyn Hord hit .429 with 10 kills and matched a career high with eight total blocks. Serena Gray finished with seven kills on .333 hitting.
The match was a stark contrast to the previous two meetings between the teams. Illinois won in five sets in Champaign last season, while Penn State came back from two sets down to win in five sets in State College when the teams played earlier this season.
Kendall White totaled 15 digs in the three-set match, continuing the tear she is on as of late. She is averaging 5.8 digs/set over the past three matches. Keeton Holcomb also had a solid match with nine digs.
Allyson Cathey added seven kills for the Lions, while Tori Gorrell contributed five blocks in addition to four kills.
Morgan O'Brien put up big numbers in a losing effort for Illinois, totaling 24 digs. Penn State held the Illini to .081 hitting on the night.
The Lions didn't trail in either of the first two sets after jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the first and 7-3 advantage in the second. They took the lead for good after going up 10-9 in the third set.
Penn State looks to keep momentum going forward when it makes the short trip from Champaign to Evanston to take on Northwestern on Sunday at 2 p.m. (ET).
The 2019 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by McLanahan's.