UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 9 Penn State opened the women's volleyball season with a 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20) win over Big Ten foe Illinois on Friday night at Rec Hall. It was the first win of the year for the Nittany Lions and the 1,300th career victory for head coach Russ Rose.
The Lions were missing multiple starters but received solid efforts from both returning standout players and newcomers to get the win with a balanced attack. They hit .306 as a team, including 11 kills on .381 hitting by redshirt sophomore Anastasiya Kudryashova, a transfer playing her first match for Penn State.
Sophomore setter Emily Oerther made her first start and guided Penn State's to the quality hitting performance. Freshman Annie Cate Fitzpatrick started her first match and nearly posted a double-double, finishing with 13 kills on .308 hitting and nine digs. Freshman Maddy Bilinovic picked up the start and put together an outstanding debut, tallying 16 digs and six assists.
And then there were the familiar faces for Penn State as three of the team's returning All-Americans contributed to the win. Jonni Parker totaled 10 kills, five blocks and four digs, Kaitlyn Hord had 10 kills and four blocks, and Serena Gray registered two aces and four blocks. Two of gray's blocks were solo.
Without some of its familiar faces on the floor, Penn State knew it needed to get off to a fast start. The team brought the energy early as it jumped out to a 5-0 lead with Oerther on the service line. It was a team effort from the start. Hord, Kudryashova, and Fitzpatrick all had kills during the run. Parker and Hord combined on a block to make it 4-0 before Oerther capped the run with an ace.
Penn State extended their first-set lead to nine, 11-2, on a kill by Fitzpatrick, before Illinois started to make a comeback. The Illini battled back to get as close as two, 19-17, and were down 23-20 before the Lions scored back-to-back points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
After Illinois took set two 25-17, Penn State seized momentum with a 25-20 win in a closely-contested third set. The teams battled to a 10-10 tie and were still close at 17-15 with the Lions holding a two-point lead. Kudryashova had a kill and Gray came through with an ace sandwiched around an attack error by Illinois to put the Lions up 20-15. Gray later closed the set with a kill.
The play of the night came early in the third set. An overpass off the serve by Penn State was sent right back by an Illinois middle blocker. Bilinovic sprinted from the back row to make a kick save right at the attack line. Following a short rally, Bilinovic set Parker for the kill to make it a one-point Illinois lead, 3-2.
Penn State didn't take its first lead of the fourth set until it went up 14-13 on a kill by Kudryashova. The Lions never trailed again and eventually clinched the match on a service error by the Illini.
Rose's 1,300th win comes in his 42nd season as the head coach of the Nittany Lions. His first career victory came over Navy in his debut match on Sept. 21, 1979. He got his career off to a fast start that day, adding wins over West Virginia and Colgate.
Megan Cooney paced Illinois on Friday, finishing with 20 kills and five digs. Diana Brown recorded a double-double with 24 kills and 15 digs, while Taylor Kuper contributed 15 digs of her own.
Penn state has won seven of the past eight matches in the series with Illinois and now owns a 48-11 all-time record against the Illini.
The two teams are back at Rec Hall for a second match on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The match will stream on Big Ten Network+.