UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 5 Penn State women’s volleyball hit .430 as it rolled to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-20) sweep over New Hampshire in a non-conference match Sunday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions evened their record at 3-3, while the Wildcats fell to 4-2.
Penn State’s Emmi Sellman needed to play just two sets for to reach double-digit kills as she tallied 11 on .647 hitting. Caroline Jurevicius wasn’t far behind her with eight kills, Maggie Mendelson hit .500 with seven kills, and Alexis Ewing hit .455 with six kills. Addie Lyon picked up her second-straight start at setter and tallied 26 assists.
Kennedy Martin saw her 58- match streak with double-digit kills come to an end but only because of an unselfish move to give way to the team’s young players in the final set. She played in the first two sets and hit .385 with seven kills.
Martin also led a huge night at the service line for Penn State, which racked up 11 aces as a team. Martin finished with a team-high three, while Ava Falduto and Gillian Grimes each served for two. Lyon, Sellman, Jordan Hopp, and Jocelyn Nathan contributed one ace apiece. The 11 aces were the most by the Nittany Lions since they had 12 in a sweep over Delaware State in the NCAA First Round last season.
Falduto and Grimes shared the team lead with seven digs apiece to help hold New Hampshire to .190 hitting. Martin racked up four blocks over her two sets on the floor.
Lucy Chertock was the lone player to reach double-digit kills for New Hampshire. She finished with 10. The Wildcats were held to zero aces.
Set 1
Sellman went off in the opening set, hitting .636 with seven kills to lead Penn State to a 25-11 win. Martin tallied four kills, three digs, and one block. The Nittany Lions, who hit .483 behind 10 assists from Lyon, received four early kills from Sellman as they jumped out to a 9-1 advantage. The score only got as close as seven the rest of the way.
Set 2
Sellman added four more kills on .667 hitting in Penn State’s 25-15 win in set two. Martin chipped in with three kills and came through with three aces. The Nittany Lions opened the set with a 5-0 run that included two kills by Martin. She also teamed with Jordan Hopp for a pair of blocks during that stretch. The Nittany Lions again held strong with the lead, never letting the Wildcats get closer than four the rest of the way.
Set 3
Jurevicius hit .429 with seven kills as Penn State finished off the sweep with a 25-20 win in set three. Ewing showed her potential with five kills on .400 hitting. The Nittany Lions found themselves down 10-9 before going on a 3-0 run with kills by Ewing and Jurevicius and an ace by Falduto. They kept the lead the rest of the way, upping the gap to five at 20-15 with a kill by Ewing, again at 24-19 with a kill by Gabrielle Nichols, and one last time at match point with a kill by Jurevicius.
Career Highs
Alexis Ewing – kills (6), digs (2)
Lexi Gin – digs (3)
Up Next
Penn State hosts Bucknell on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Bison are 1-4 following a 3-1 win over Oral Roberts on Saturday.
The 2025 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by Musselman's.