UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Four Penn State players tallied eight kills apiece while each hitting above .350 to fuel the 13th-ranked Nittany Lions' 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-21) win over Rutgers in a Big Ten women's volleyball match Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall.
Katie Clark picked up her fifth start of the season and hit .700 with eight kills and five blocks while helping Penn State improve to 17-4 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten. Rutgers dropped to 7-15 overall and 1-9 in the conference.
Joining Clark with eight kills were Zoe Weatherington, Allie Holland and Alexa Markley. Weatherington hit .571 and added seven blocks, while Holland hit .462 and matched her with seven blocks of her own. Markley hit .357. Kashauna Williams came in right behind that group with seven kills.
Penn State totaled 14 blocks in the three-set match. Weatherington's seven were one off her career high of eight that she set in a five-set win over Stanford earlier this season.
The Lions hit .329 in the match behind 33 assists from Seleisa Elisaia. The setter added seven digs and a pair of blocks.
Cassie Kuerschen helped Penn State get off to a good start with an easy victory in the first set and the Lions continued to cruise for the rest of the match. She served for three straight aces to put her team up 7-1. She added another ace to put the Lions up 10-2 in the second set to give her a career-high four on the day. That eclipsed her previous career high of three that she had a in a five-set win at Maryland last season.
A Penn State player has tallied four aces in three consecutive matches. Holland had four aces in a five-set win at Iowa and then again in a four-set victory at Maryland.
Freshman Gillian Grimes led the Lions in digs with 10. Maddy Bilinovic chipped in with six to help hold Rutgers to a .106 hitting percentage.
Taylor Humphrey put up the best numbers for the Scarlet Knights, finishing with 10 kills and four digs.
Penn State improved to 40-9 in the all-time series with Rutgers. The Lions have won 31 straight matches overall against the Scarlet Knights and are 23-1 in the series in matches played at Rec Hall.
It's a short turnaround before Penn State's next match as the Lions travel to play Illinois on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. The match will air live on B1G Network.
Illinois is 9-11 overall and 4-6 in the Big Ten following consecutive 3-0 losses to Minnesota, Ohio State, and Nebraska. Penn State swept the Illini at Rec Hall two weeks ago.