OMAHA, Neb. – The Penn State women's volleyball season came to a close Sunday with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 30-28, 25-17) loss to fourth-seeded Texas in the Regional Semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament at the CHI Health Center. The 13th-seeded Lions finished the season at 10-6 overall, including a 1-1 record in the tournament. The Longhorns, the champions in the Big 12, improved to 25-1.
Penn State earned an at-large bid to the 48-team championship event, making them the only team in the nation to compete in all 40 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournaments. The Lions then won their Second Round match against North Carolina A&T to advance to the Regional Semifinal for the 18th-consecutive season.
The turning point of Sunday's match against Texas came in the third set. The Lions had two chances at set point and the opportunity to take a 2-1 lead. They went up 24-23 on a kill by Serena Gray, but the Longhorns responded with the next two points. Anastasiya Kudryashova and Annie Cate Fitzpatrick followed with back-to-back kills to give the Lions a 26-25 advantage, but the Longhorns again scored the next two points. Texas went on to win the set 30-28 on an attack error.
Penn State started strong thanks to an outstanding individual performance by Jonni Parker in the first set. The junior totaled nine kills on .541 hitting and added two blocks. The Lions trailed 13-8 midway through the set and were down 21-18 before they rallied back. Down 22-20, Penn State closed the set with a 5-1 run, capped by a block from Parker and Gray.
Parker finished with a double-double, posting a team-high 20 kills in addition to 12 digs and four blocks. Kaitlyn Hord turned in yet another great performance with 13 kills on .444 hitting and five blocks. Fitzpatrick just missed a double-double with nine kills and a team-best 14 digs. Kudryashova finished with eight kills on .333 hitting, while Gabby Blossom contributed 46 assists and six digs.
In the team's two tournament matches, Hord totaled 22 kills and just one error on 39 attacks for a .538 hitting percentage. She tallied eight total blocks in six sets.
Contributing to the defensive effort were Gray with four blocks, Maddy Bilinovic with 10 digs, and Jenna Hampton with eight digs.
Unfortunately for Penn State, Texas had two hitters that were at the top of their game. Skylar Fields finished with 21 digs on .500 hitting, while Logan Eggleston led all players with 22 kills and added eight digs. Jhenna Gabriel had a big match with 55 assists and 18 digs. She helped the Longhorns hit .353 as a team.
Texas moves on to play fifth-seeded Nebraska on Monday. The Cornhuskers advanced with a 3-0 win over 12th-seeded Baylor. The Big Ten will be well represented in the next round with three of the remaining eight teams being from the conference.
Penn State is still one of the greatest teams in NCAA Tournament history. The Lions have won seven national titles and are 105-33 in postseason play. All 105 wins came under the direction of head coach Russ Rose.
