UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women's volleyball standouts Gabby Blossom, Kaitlyn Hord, Jonni Parker, and Kendall White were all named AVCA All-Northeast Region on Tuesday, while Serena Gray was selected as an honorable mention.
Blossom earned all-region status for the first time in her career after taking over as the team's starting setter for her sophomore season. She has played all 109 sets while starting all 31 matches for the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions and has averaged 11.42 assists/set. Blossom had five matches with 50-plus assists and recorded 11 double-doubles in assists and digs.
Hord has earned all-region honors in each of her first two seasons at Penn State and has been one of the top middles in the nation this year. She currently ranks second in the country in hitting percentage at .445 while averaging 2.71 kills/set. That's up from her .383 hitting and 2.12 kills/set she posted as a freshman. She also ranks fourth in the Big Ten in blocks/set (1.28) while leading the Lions in that category 25 times this season.
Parker is also an all-region selection for the second straight year. She ranks third in the Big Ten in aces/set (0.39) and seventh in kills/set (3.51). The sophomore has 386 kills this season, giving her 737 for her career, and has 188 digs. That's just 15 digs away from last year's total.
White is a three-time All-Northeast Region selection, setting her up to earn her third-straight All-America honor. The senior libero recently broke the program record for career digs, upping her total to 1,969 with 14 in the team's NCAA Second Round win over Towson. She ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 4.11 digs/set, while helping the Lions hit .280 as a team.
Hord, Parker, and White were all unanimous first team All-Big Ten selections, while Gabby Blossom earned a spot on the second team.
Gray was also an All-Northeast Region honorable mention last season and then added honorable mention All-America status at the end of the season. She is sixth in the Big Ten with a .365 hitting percentage while totaling 2.72 kills/set, good enough for second on the team.
Penn State is 26-5 overall after beating Princeton in the NCAA First Round and Towson in the Second Round last weekend. The Lions, the No. 11 overall seed in the tournament, will play Cincinnati in the Regional Semifinal at Stanford on Friday at 8 p.m. (ET). The match will stream on ESPN3.
The 2019 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by McLanahan's.
