BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Serena Gray hit .500 with 14 kills and four blocks as No. 8 Penn State posted its third road sweep in six days with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 28-26) win over Indiana in a Big Ten women's volleyball match Wednesday night at Wilkinson Hall.
Penn State improved to 22-4 overall and 15-2 in the conference with its 13th win in 14 matches. The Lions have had at least 22 wins in all 41 seasons under head coach Russ Rose. The Lions improved to 55-1 in the all-time series with Indiana, which dropped to 13-17 overall and 2-15 in league play.
Jonni Parker put up solid numbers all-around in the win with 10 kills on .304 hitting, seven digs, and six blocks. The six blocks, which tied for the team lead with Kaitlyn Hord, set a career high for Parker. Hord and Allyson Cathey each added seven kills, while Tori Gorrell contributed five.
Kendall White finished with 13 digs, giving her at least 11 in 13 consecutive matches. Eight of those matches went just three sets. Keeton Holcomb added seven digs, while Gabby Blossom contributed four in addition to 38 assists.
Gray carried the Penn State attack in the first two sets. She had four kills on five swings and combined with Jonni Parker for a block on the final point as the Lions won 25-16 in set one. She added five kills on eight swings to help the Lions take set two, 25-20.
Through the first two sets, Gray was hitting .692 with nine kills and no errors on 13 swings.
The third set was easily the most competitive as the teams battled to a 26-26 tie before Parker had a kill and a block with Hord to close the match.
The close win in set three ran Lions' streak to 36 consecutive set wins in the series with the Hoosiers.
Indiana was held to .050 hitting in the match, but Hayden Huybers and Jacqui Armer were efficient in a losing effort. Huybers tallied seven kills on .357 hitting, while Armer hit .308 with six kills.
Penn State, which sits one loss behind Wisconsin at the top of the Big Ten standings, has three matches remaining in the regular season, starting with a road contest at Rutgers on Sunday at noon. The Lions follow that with home matches against No. 5 Wisconsin on Friday, Nov. 29, and No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 30.
The 2019 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by McLanahan's.
