EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 12 Penn State women's volleyball ran its winning streak to five matches with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-11) win at Michigan State on Saturday. The Lions improved to 9-5 overall and in the Big Ten with their second win over the Spartans in as many days. The Spartans saw their record dip to 2-9, 2-9 B1G.
It was another team effort as the Lions hit .325 with 32 kills. It was no surprise that Gabby Blossom led the team in assists with 16, but libero Jenna Hampton's numbers certainly stood out. In addition to her 11 digs (3.67/set), Hampton had a career-high seven assists.
It's not the first time Hampton has contributed to the offensive effort this season. When the team is out of system, Hampton is often there to get the job done as she has tallied 51 assists in 12 matches this season. Her total puts her at more than an assist per set with a 1.16 average.
With the short match and Michigan State's 13 service errors and one ballhandling error, Penn State's offensive numbers weren't high, but they were efficient. Annie Cate Fitzpatrick led the team with eight kills on. 500 hitting, Serena Gray totaled seven kills with a .455 percentage, and Kaitlyn Hord hit .462 with six kills.
Jonni Parker wasn't as busy as usual with just four kills on 18 swings but she came through at the service line with three of the team's seven aces. Blossom, Hampton, Maddy Bilinovic and Keatan Broughton added one ace apiece.
Broughton furthered her reputation as player that leaves it all on the court with another highlight-reel hustle play that led to a Penn State point. It didn't matter that Penn State was up 2-0 in the match and 14-5 in the set, Broughton still went 100 percent after a ball that was passed far off the court to the left. She used every inch of space available, bumping the ball back into play with her back to the court just as she ran into a table, sending it and a chair tumbling over. Fitzpatrick kept the play alive, sending a freeball to Michigan State, and a Spartans' hitting error gave the point to the Lions.
HUGE save by Keatan Broughton👀#WeAre🦁🏐 pic.twitter.com/I3F0r52Y5N
— Penn State Women's Volleyball (@PennStateVBALL) March 20, 2021
Penn State held Michigan State to .073 hitting. The Spartans were led by Meredith Norris with eight kills and an ace.
Over two matches against the Spartans this weekend, the latest the Lions trailed was 3-2 in the first set of the second match. They didn't trail at all in four of the six sets, including any of the three in the first match.
Penn State has the toughest remaining regular season schedule of any team in the conference. The Lions will host No. 1 Wisconsin on March 26-27 and will travel for matches against No. 5 Nebraska on April 1-2 All four of those matches will air live on Big Ten Network.