CORALVILLE, Iowa – No. 14 Penn State survived a five-set scare to stay unbeaten in the all-time series with Iowa, defeating the Hawkeyes 3-2 (25-27, 25-22, 25-15, 20-25, 15-13) in a Big Ten women's volleyball match Saturday night at Xtream Arena.
The Nittany Lions improved to 15-4 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten. They are now 57-0 in the all-time series with Iowa. The Hawkeyes fell to 7-11 overall and 1-7 in the conference.
Iowa has been competitive with multiple nationally-ranked teams from the Big Ten this season. The Hawkeyes pushed Purdue to five sets last week and took a set off the Boilermakers in the first meeting between the teams this season. They also took a set off Minnesota.
Kashauna Williams led Penn State with 16 kills, including the final point to secure the win for the Lions. Zoe Weatherington was behind her with 11 kills.
Penn State's middles provided stability for the team in the hard-fought match. Allie Holland hit .304 with 10 kills, seven blocks, four aces, and three digs. Taylor Trammell hit .389 with nine kills and seven blocks.
Blocks proved to be key for Penn State. The Lions finished with 15, led by the efforts from Holland and Trammell. Seleisa Elisaia and Williams chipped in with five and four blocks, respectively.
Williams came up big in the deciding set, leading Penn State with four kills. The Lions trailed 10-8 before going on a 4-0 run that included kills by Elisaia and Williams. The Hawkeyes battled back to tie the score at 12-all. Williams went on to score the Lions' final two points, getting kills to put them up 14-12 and the final score of 15-13.
The first set was the one that got away for Penn State. The Lions used a 10-0 run to go up 19-12. Holland had two of her four aces during that stretch. Iowa responded with a 9-2 run to tie the score at 21-all and went on to get a 27-25 win with an ace by Addie VanderWeide and a Penn State attack error.
The Lions didn't dwell on the set loss long as they bounced back with a pair of set wins. The third proved to be their best of the night as they hit .619. Williams was perfect with six kills on six swings. Trammell had three kills on four attacks and added four blocks.
Iowa was held to .191 hitting, but Delaney McSweeney was a bright spot. She hit .364 with 11 kills and four blocks.
Three Penn State players reached double-digits in digs, led by Maddy Bilinovic with 16. Gillian Grimes finished with 12, while Anjelina Starck had 10. Elisaia chipped in with seven digs in addition to her 46 assists and five blocks.
Penn State is back on the road for a match at Maryland on Friday at 8 p.m. The match will air live on B1G Network. The Lions then return to Rec Hall to host Rutgers on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Maryland is 11-8 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten following sweeps over Rutgers and Northwestern. Rutgers is 7-13 overall and 1-7 in the conference with 3-0 losses in its past five matches.
