UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 12 Penn State made it back-to-back sweeps over Rutgers with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-16) win Saturday night at Rec Hall. The Lions improved to 7-5 overall and in the Big Ten with their third-straight win. The Scarlet Knights dropped to 2-12, 2-12.
The wins came over a Rutgers team that despite its record appeared to be heading in the right direction before its trip to State College. The Scarlet Knights won the second match in their series against Iowa and then led No. 11 Ohio State, which was unbeaten at the time, 12-7 in the fifth set before allowing a comeback.
Penn State hit an impressive .438 in the win, led by numerous players with solid hitting numbers. Annie Cate Fitzpatrick led the team in kills with 11 while hitting .421. Kaitlyn Hord had zero errors on 15 swings, hitting .533 with eight kills. Jonni Parker hit .368 with nine kills, while Anastasiya Kudryashova, playing against her former team, totaled seven kills on .375 hitting.
Gabby Blossom did her part to guide Penn State to its high hitting percentage, finishing with 39 assists. She added 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Libero Jenna Hampton matched Blossom with a team-high 11 digs and contributed to the offensive effort with six assists. Maddy Bilinovic contributed five digs.
The Lions tallied eight aces, giving them 14 in the two-match series. Fitzpatrick, Bilinovic and Hampton had two apiece, while Parker and Blossom each served for one.
Fitzpatrick continues to excel at the service line as of late. After totaling five aces, four of which came in one match, in the team's first eight matches, she has 10 over the past four matches. She served for three aces in both contests against Purdue last weekend and then added two in both matches against Rutgers this weekend.
Penn State held Rutgers to .116 hitting and didn't allow any player to reach double-digits in kills or digs. Kamila Cieslik had a solid match, hitting .500 with nine kills and eight digs.
The Lions have won 28 straight matches dating back to 1982 in the series with Rutgers. The Lions have dropped just one set to the Scarlet Knights during that stretch.
Up next for Penn State is a road trip to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. The Lions will play the Spartans on March 19-20. The Spartans have not played since Feb. 21.