PITTSBURGH Pa. – Penn State's 41st appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship came to a close Saturday night with a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) loss to No. 3 Pitt in the Second Round at the Petersen Events Center.
Penn State, which is ranked 15th in the nation and is the only program to compete in all 41 NCAA Tournaments, finished the season at 21-12 overall. The team has totaled 20 or more wins in 42 of head coach Russ Rose's 43 seasons, with the lone exception being last year's CoVID-shortened schedule.
Pitt improved to 28-3 on the season and will host Kansas in a Regional Semifinal match next weekend. It was the Panthers' first NCAA Tournament win over the Lions in four tries.
All four sets were back-and-forth battles with a combined 44 ties and 21 lead changes during the match. All four sets featured at least five lead changes and none were decided by more than three points. Two of the sets were tied at 23-23, while the other two were tied as late as 22-22.
With the match tied at 1-1, Penn State had a great opportunity to take a 2-1 lead. The Lions led 22-20 in set three following a kill by Erika Pritchard and an ace by Gabby Blossom, but Pitt went on a 5-0 run to take the set. Chinaza Ndee tallied three kills during the run.
The Lions again led late in set four, taking a 23-21 lead on a kill by Pritchard and an attack error by Pitt. The Panthers used a 4-0 run this time to clinch the match. Ndee keyed the run again, starting it with her ninth kill of the match.
Pritchard was solid in her final collegiate contest, hitting .474 with 11 kills, three digs and three blocks. The two-time All-Big Ten selection finished her prolific career with 1,692 kills, 929 digs, 141 aces, and 277 total blocks.
Jonni Parker led Penn State in kills with 12 and added five blocks. Kaitlyn Hord also had five blocks in addition to nine kills. Jenna Hampton paced the team in digs with 16, while Blossom contributed 38 assists and eight digs. Adanna Rollins was right behind her with seven digs. Allie Holland chipped in five kills.
Pitt prevailed in large part due to the duo of Kayla Lund and Leketo Member-Meneh. Lund, a two-time ACC Player of the Year, hit .421 with 21 kills, 10 digs, four blocks and two aces. Member-Meneh totaled 19 kills and 14 digs.
Penn State will be absent from the NCAA Regional Semifinal round for the first time since 2002. Still the Lions are 106-34 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with all 140 matches being played with Rose as head coach. No NCAA Division I women's volleyball coach in history has more tournament victories than Rose.