UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball continued its nine-match homestand with a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 23-25) loss to UCLA on Sunday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions dropped to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten, while the Bruins moved to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
The loss marked Penn State’s first defeat to an unranked team this season.
Kennedy Martin continued to put up some of the best numbers in the country despite the loss. The junior right side went off for a career-high 34 kills and did it with a sparkling hitting percentage of .403. Martin added nine digs and three blocks. The effort came just one match after she racked up 29 kills in a five-set win over No. 17 USC at Rec Hall.
Emmi Sellman was productive offensively with 11 kills to go along with her 12 digs, giving her a double-double for the second-straight match. Gillian Grimes joined Sellman with double-digit digs with a team-high 18.
Maggie Mendelson led the way defensively with five blocks to go along with her five kills, while Addie Lyon dished out 47 assists in addition to eight digs in the match.
Cheridyn Leverette led the way offensively for the Bruins with 20 kills, while Eliana Urzua collected a double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs. Lola Schumacher anchored the defense with 24 digs.
Set 1
Martin hit .429 with 11 kills to lead Penn State to a 25-22 win in the first set. Penn State used a 5-0 run that included kills by Alexis Ewing, Mendelson, and Martin to take a 10-7 lead. The Bruins immediately rallied with a 6-0 run of their own to recapture the lead at 13-10. The teams then traded 3-0 scoring runs heading towards the end of the set before the score came to a 21-21 deadlock. Martin then rattled off four kills for Penn State’s final four points of the set.
Set 2
The Bruins controlled the second set from start to finish, collecting a 25-19 win. They had two separate scoring runs of three or more points early on. The first pushed the score to 8-3. After the Nittany Lions cut the lead down to three, UCLA immediately went back on the attack with a 4-0 scoring run to push the score to 13-6. Penn State kept clawing away at the lead but couldn’t bring the deficit to under four points.
Set 3
Leverette hit .667 with nine kills to lead UCLA to a thrilling 25-23 win in set three. Penn State had a cushion with a three-point lead at 21-18 following a UCLA attack error, but the Bruins responded with a 3-0 run to knot the score at 21-all. Penn State took a 22-21 lead with a kill by Martin and later tied the score at 23-23 with another kill by Martin. The Bruins closed the set with back-to-back kills by Leverette.
Set 4
Martin was outstanding in set four, hitting .583 with 15 kills, but it wasn’t enough as UCLA came out on top 25-23. The Nittany Lions showed fight, coming back from a 17-13 deficit to tie the score at 19-19. The score was tied again at 20-20 following a kill by Martin, but the Bruins scored the next two points to go up 22-20. They still led by two at 23-21 before another Martin kill. Then another Martin kill pulled the Nittany Lions back within one at 24-23, but UCLA secured the win with a kill by Urzua.
Career Highs
Kennedy Martin – kills (34)
Jocelyn Nathan – kills (1)
Up Next
No. 15 Penn State continues Big Ten play when it hosts No. 1 Nebraska on Friday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. on FOX.