EUGENE, Ore. – Anchored by impressive individual performances from junior right-side Kennedy Martin, senior middle blocker Maggie Mendelson and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Caroline Jurevicius, the 17th-ranked Penn State women’s volleyball team scrapped for a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 27-25) win over the Oregon Ducks inside Matthew Knight Arena Saturday night.
The Nittany Lions climbed to 11-7 overall on the 2025 season and 5-3 against Big Ten Conference competitors while Oregon fell to 12-6 and 3-5 in league matches. PSU picked up its sixth win over Oregon in the ninth all-time meeting with the Ducks dating to the inaugural contest in 1985. Penn State toppled the Ducks for the second year in a row in Big Ten play and picked up its first true road victory in B1G competition against a Pacific Northwest competitor since Washington and Oregon joined the league a year ago.
Penn State’s hitters impressed against the Ducks, finishing the night with a .341 hitting percentage to mark its best performance in that category against Big Ten foes this year. PSU’s previous Big Ten season high in hitting percentage came against Northwestern on October 11, when the Nittany Lions hit at a .326 clip. Saturday night’s showing in Eugene marked PSU’s best single-match hitting percentage since turning in a .357 showing in a sweep of Central Michigan on September 21 of this year. Penn State booked more kills than its opponent for the 14th time in 18 matches, registering 60 while allowing 50 for the Ducks. PSU also took the edge in total digs on the night by a 50-43 differential, improving to 10-2 when doing so in 2025.
On an individual basis, Martin led the way with a match-high 26 kills on .315 efficiency, securing her ninth match with 20-or-more kills in addition to her fourth such performance in the last five matches. The Fort Mill, South Carolina, native also finished with a match-high-tying trio of service aces, highlighted by the match-winning ace to conclude the fourth set. Mendelson, a native of Ogden, Utah, cracked the double-digit mark in kills for the sixth time this season and fifth match in a row with 12 kills on 18 attacks. Mendelson finished with zero errors on the night to guarantee a .667 hitting percentage. The Cleveland, Ohio, native Jurevicius notched her highest hitting percentage of the 2025 season with a .421 clip, booking 11 kills to mark her fifth double-digit performance of the year and third consecutive.
Redshirt senior setter Addie Lyon mustered her second double-double as a Penn Stater and second against a B1G challenger with 47 assists and 14 digs against the Ducks. Lyon’s previous double-double came on September 26 against USC, when the veteran delivered 43 assists and 10 digs in PSU’s nationally ranked victory inside Rec Hall. The O’Fallon, Missouri, native also booked a season high in kills with three on just four attacks, helping contribute to PSU’s dominant night offensively. Finally, senior libero Gillian Grimes continued her powerful stretch of defensive performances on the back row, notching her 15th match in double figures with 11 digs against Oregon.
SET ONE
The squads changed points back and forth over the opening moments, with the Ducks unable to extend their lead beyond two early on. Five kills from Martin and a successful swing from Mendelson guaranteed PSU its first lead of the night at 12-11, but Oregon replied with a 3-0 run to take a 14-12 edge. A personal 3-0 reply by Martin with an ace and two kills gave the Blue & White the lead once more at the media break, 15-14. The Ducks were able to deadlock the opening stanza at 16-all, but a 5-2 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Martin and sophomore outside hitter Emmi Sellman forced an Oregon timeout trailing 21-18. Oregon pulled within one point of PSU’s advantage, but an emphatic right-side kill down the line from Martin closed the book on the first frame, 25-22. Penn State hit at an astronomical .559 clip in the first set and racked up a decisive 21-12 edge in kills.
SET TWO
Oregon responded to Penn State’s strong showing in the opening set with a decisive start to the second, utilizing eight kills and a block to take its largest lead of the match to that point at 12-7. The Nittany Lions bounced back out of a timeout, with a setter dump from Lyon and a double block highlighting a 3-0 run. Oregon regained a bit of momentum from there, but a successful challenge from head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley and kill by Sellman kept PSU in the hunt, trailing 17-15. Oregon managed to extend its lead to 22-16 following a 5-1 run, but a 6-1 response from PSU forced the Ducks into both of their timeouts while expending their second challenge of the match to no avail. The home squad was able to find its rhythm late in the frame and come away with a narrow 25-23 win heading into the intermission. Oregon out-hit Penn State by a .325 to .206 margin and out-killed PSU 16-13 to eke out the set victory.
SET THREE
Saturday’s third set started with the same competitive fervor as the previous two, with the squads battling through three ties and a pair of lead changes en route to a 5-5 deadlock. Kills from Lyon and Martin sparked a 4-1 Nittany Lion run to take a 9-6 lead, but a few successful swings saw the Ducks pull back within one at 10-9. Penn State capitalized on a slew of Oregon attack errors over the ensuing points and was ultimately able to book a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout. Service errors plagued both sides out of the short break, but the Ducks were able to gain some momentum and knot the set up at 19-19 to mark the first tie since 5-all. Points were exchanged both ways down the stretch, but back-to-back kills from Martin and Jurevicius gave PSU a 25-23 victory in the third. PSU’s defense forced a multitude of Oregon errors, limiting the Ducks to a meager .031 hitting percentage as the Nittany Lions took a 2-1 set advantage.
SET FOUR
Oregon jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead early in the fourth frame, but Jurevicius’ ninth kill of the night helped stymie the Ducks’ momentum. The home team was able to take a 10-5 lead from there, but a dominant 9-2 run from Penn State highlighted by a trio of kills from Mendelson and a pair of service aces by Lyon and sophomore defensive specialist Ava Falduto saw the Nittany Lions surge ahead. Oregon was able to slow the Blue & White down with a kill, but an ensuing service error guaranteed PSU a 15-13 edge at the media break. The Ducks continued to battle as the match wore on and ultimately forced yet another deadlock at 20 points apiece. Penn State won four of the next six points to set up its first match point of the night thanks to another kill from Jurevicius, but Oregon sent the set into extras with consecutive kills. Another kill for the Ducks put PSU on the brink, but back-to-back kills from Martin and Jurevicius paved the way for Martin’s match-clinching service ace to take the fourth and final frame by a 27-25 finish.
UP NEXT
No. 17 Penn State returns to Happy Valley and will host Rutgers inside Rec Hall for the team’s annual Dig Pink Match on Friday, October 24 at 7 p.m. (ET). The match will stream live via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. The Nittany Lions then travel to play Ohio State on Sunday, October 26, at Noon (ET), with that match also slated to stream on B1G+.
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