UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State’s Kennedy Martin stuffed the stat sheet in a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18) win over Ohio State in Big Ten women’s volleyball action Sunday afternoon at the Covelli Center. The junior hit .382 with 26 kills, 21 digs, four aces, and two blocks as the Nittany Lions improved to 13-7 overall and 7-3 in the conference. The Buckeyes dropped to 3-15, 0-10.
Martin put up huge numbers but she had plenty of support in the win. Caroline Jurevicius continued her upward trend with 10 kills on .304 hitting, Emmi Sellman tallied nine kills while playing against her former team, and Gabrielle Nichols hit .375 with eight kills while making her second-straight start. Addie Lyon guided Penn State to .308 hitting with her 42 assists.
The 21 digs were a career-high for Martin as she helped hold Ohio State to .151 hitting. It was her fifth double-double of the season. Gillian Grimes joined her in double-digits with 13 digs while Jocelyn Nathan came up just one short with nine. Lyon and Ava Falduto chipped in with eight and seven digs, respectively.
Navea Gauthier led Ohio State with 11 kills. Olivia Hasbrouck gave Penn State fits from the service line with her five aces.
The Nittany Lions countered with eight aces as a team, led by Martin’s four. Falduto and Grimes each served for two.
Penn State improved to 55-21in the all-time series with Ohio State, beating the Buckeyes for the fourth-straight time.
Set 1
Ohio State pulled off a 25-22 win in the opening set despite hitting just .081. Abby Yoder helped that cause with a pair of aces, while Kaia Castle was in on two of the team’s three blocks. Penn State led big at 17-12 after a 6-0 run. The Buckeyes later used a 4-0 run to tie the score at 20-all and then had a 5-0 run to close out the set with a 25-22 win. Set point came on a kill by Mina Gunes.
Set 2
Martin had six kills, while Jurevicius and Sellman added four apiece to lead Penn State to a 25-23 win in set two. Martin also had a pair of aces and led the team with five digs. The Nittany Lions trailed 21-20 before scoring three straight points on back-to-back kills by Jurevicius and an Ohio State attack error to go up 23-21. The teams then traded points as Martin made it 24-22 with a kill and then the final score of 25-23 with another kill.
Set 3
Martin went off for nine kills on .750 hitting and a pair of aces in a 25-17 win in the third set. Nichols chipped in with four kills on just six swings. Lyon guided the attack with 15 assists as Penn State hit .531. The Nittany Lions pulled away with a 3-0 run that made it 17-12 thanks to a kill by Jurevicius and back-to-back aces by Martin. Ohio State only got as close as four the rest of the way before Martin closed the set with a kill.
Set 4
Penn State used its most balanced attack of the match in a 25-18 win in set four, hitting .361 as a team. Sellman and Martin had four kills apiece, Jurevicius tallied three on four swings, and Nichols and Mendelson each contributed two kills. Grimes added to the scoring effort with an ace. Martin was busy defensively in the set with nine digs, helping hold Ohio State to .158 hitting. This time the Nittany Lions pulled away with a huge 8-0 run to go up 20-10. Four different players had at least one kill during that stretch, while Mendelson made it five players in the points column with her block. Match point was later scored on a kill by Nichols.
Career Highs
Kennedy Martin – digs (21)
Up Next
No. 18 Penn State plays at Michigan on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Nittany Lions then host No. 23 Indiana on Sunday at 4 p.m. Both matches will air live on B1G Network.