PITTSBURGH – No. 3 Penn State Women’s Volleyball suffered its first loss of the season Wednesday night, falling 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-18) to No. 1 Pittsburgh in a road match at the Petersen Events Center. The Nittany Lions saw their record dip to 8-1, while the Panthers remained unbeaten at 7-0.
Wednesday’s match was the first time in series history that both teams were ranked in the top five of the AVCA Coaches Poll. It was just the sixth time in the series history that both teams were ranked at the time of the match.
Camryn Hannah had a solid match for Penn State, hitting .333 with 10 kills. Jess Mruzik was behind her with seven kills, while Taylor Trammell tallied six kills on .375 hitting. Trammell entered the match ranked second in the nation in hitting percentage at .523.
Defensively, Penn State was led by Anjelina Starck and Gillian Grimes with eight digs apiece. Izzy Starck contributed seven digs.
Just one of Penn State’s first eight opponents hit better than .200, but Pitt was highly efficient with a .422 percentage. Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock did a lot of the damage. Stafford hit .625 with 16 kills, while Babcock hit .314 with 15 kills.
Up Next
The Nittany Lions host the Penn State Classic at Rec Hall, where they will play James Madison on Friday at 6 p.m., and Yale on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both the Dukes and Bulldogs played in the NCAA Tournament last season.