UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 18 Penn State hit .413 on its way to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-13) sweep over visiting Rutgers in a Big Ten women’s volleyball match Friday night at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 12-7 overall and 6-3 in the conference while winning their annual Dig Pink match for the second-straight year. The Scarlet Knights fell to 10-11, 1-8.
Kennedy Martin continued her impressive season in the win, hitting .517 with 16 kills. She also collected six digs, three blocks, and two aces. Addie Lyon engineered the attack with her 31 assists while adding four digs and one ace.
In her first collegiate start, Gabrielle Nichols had a strong showing with 10 kills on .421 hitting to go with four blocks. Coming into the matchup, Nichols had only recorded 12 kills on the season, but now nearly doubled her total and pushed it up to 22 after clinching the sweep with a kill.
Caroline Jurevicius and Jordan Hopp also contributed to the efficient attack for Penn State. Jurevicius tallied seven kills, while Hopp had five on .714 hitting.
Hopp led a strong defensive effort for the Nittany Lions as her six blocks helped hold Rutgers to .144 hitting. A trio of mainstays in the Penn State lineup anchored the back row defense. Ava Falduto finished with seven digs, while Gillian Grimes and Jocelyn Nathan were right behind her with six apiece.
Aspen Maxwell paced Rutgers with eight kills while Lily Bolen and Alleigh Dutton each collected 10 digs.
Set 1
Nichols hit .571 with four kills to lead Penn State to a 25-23 win in the first set. The Nittany Lions found themselves down big at 18-12 and still trailed by six at 20-14. They then rattled off a 4-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to two at 20-18. Kills by Nichols and Emmi Sellman fueled the run. After a quick point by Rutgers, Penn State immediately went back on the attack with its second 4-0 run of the set to take a 22-21 lead. Nichols and Martin got the run going as the pair teamed up on a block and then each had a kill. Jurevicius then capped the run with a kill. Another kill by Nichols later put the Nittany Lions up 23-22 and a Martin kill made it 24-22. The Scarlet Knights scored after a timeout, but Martin again came through with a kill to end the set.
Set 2
Martin hit .500 with six kills as Penn State rolled to a 25-19 win in the second set. She had three early kills to push the score to 6-2 and tacked on an ace shortly after to make it 8-3. The Nittany Lions held a sizable lead the rest of the way, getting it up to as much as nine at 24-15 following a kill by Sellman. The Scarlet Knights fought back with a late 4-0 run, but Martin closed the door with a kill for set point.
Set 3
Penn State hit .444 behind 11 assists from Lyon to capture the third set by a score of 25-13. Nichols and Martin led the attack with four kills apiece, while Hopp and Jurevicius did their part with three blocks each. Falduto, Jurevicius, and Martin each had one ace. Nichols reached double-digit kills in a match for the first time in her young career, recording her 10th kill on match point.
Career Highs
Caroline Jurevicius - aces (1)
Gabrielle Nichols - kills (10)
Up Next
Penn State continues Big Ten play when it travels to Ohio State on Sunday, Oct. 26, at noon on B1G+. The Buckeyes are 3-14 overall and 0-9 in the conference following a 3-0 loss to Michigan on Friday.