WEST LAFEYETTE, Ind. -- No. 16 Penn State Women's Volleyball came up just short in its attempt at a reverse sweep Sunday afternoon, dropping a road match to No. 19 Purdue 3-2 (25-17, 25-15, 21-25, 20-25, 15-12) in a Big Ten match at Holloway Gymnasium.
The Nittany Lions fell in five sets to a nationally-ranked team for the second time in three days as they saw their record dip to 15-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers have the same records and moved into a tie with the Nittany Lions for third place in the conference standings.
Jess Mruzik had a double-double of 27 kills and 11 digs for Penn State, while Purdue countered with 27 kills and 14 digs from Chloe Chicoine. Eva Hudson joined Chicoine to help put the Boilermakers on top with her 24 kills and nine digs.
Penn State was coming off a five-set loss to No. 1 Nebraska on Friday before making the flight to West Lafayette the following day. Sunday then marked the team's fifth five-set match of the season, including three in a span of nine days.
Zoe Weatherington, who eclipsed 1,000 career kills during the match against Nebraska on Friday, carried that momentum into Sunday with a big match against Purdue. She hit .444 with 11 kills and four blocks. Camryn Hannah also had 11 kills. Mac Podraza finished with a double-double of 49 assists and 14 digs.
Defensively, Penn State tallied 12 blocks and had three players reach double-digits in digs. Allie Holland and Taylor Trammell recorded four blocks apiece. Gillian Grimes led the team with 21 digs.
Purdue's Maddie Schermerhorn helped hold Penn State to .200 hitting with her match-high 27 digs.
Set 1
Chicoine's five kills on .455 hitting helped Purdue take the opening set 25-17. The Boilermakers broke a 12-12 tie with a 4-0 run and led the rest of the way. Chicoine had the set-clinching point with a kill.
Set 2
Eva Hudson hit .750 with six kills to lead Purdue to a 25-15 win in the second set. Chicoine also had six kills. This time the Boilermakers pulled away early with a 6-0 run that put them up 9-3.
Set 3
Mruzik came alive in the third set with seven kills on .429 hitting and a pair of aces as Penn State extended the match with a 25-21 win in set three. The team hit .333 behind 12 assists from Podraza. The Nittany Lions went up 19-12 on a kill by Holland before Purdue made things interesting with a 5-0 run to get within two at 19-17. Penn State still led by two at 21-19, but Mruzik upped it to a four-point lead with back-to-back kills. She eventually added the set-clinching kill.
Set 4
Mruzik went off in the fourth set with 11 kills on .476 hitting to lead Penn State to a 25-20 win. She started fast with kills on Penn State's first three points. She also ended the set strong with kills on three of Penn State's final four points. The team hit .390 with 15 assists from Podraza. Grimes fueled the defensive effort with nine digs.
Set 5
The fifth set was back and forth before Purdue came out on top with a 15-12 win. The Boilermakers jumped out to a 6-3 lead before Penn State responded with a 4-0 run that included back-to-back aces by Grimes. The teams switched sides with the Nittany Lions holding an 8-7 lead thanks to a kill by Weatherington. Purdue then went on a 3-0 run and took the lead for good. The Nittany Lions trailed by just one at 12-11 with a kill by Mruzik, but Purdue scored the next two points to go up 14-11. A kill by Hannah stopped the first chance at match point. Chicoine then ended the match with a kill.
Career Highs
Maddy Bilinovic – kills (2)
Up Next
No. 16 Penn State hosts Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m., and No. 2 Wisconsin on Saturday at 8 p.m.
