UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Kennedy Martin led a trio of Penn State players in double-digits with her 34 kills on .400 hitting as the 24th-ranked Nittany Lions rallied for a 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 29-31, 25-14, 15-12) win over visiting Ohio State in a Big Ten match Sunday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions moved to 15-12 overall and 9-7 in the conference, while the Buckeyes returned to Columbus at 5-19, 2-14.
In addition to the high kill total, Martin tallied eight digs and four blocks. Joining her with double-digit kills were a pair of middles as Maggie Mendelson hit .435 with 13 kills and Gabrielle Nichols hit .444 with 11 kills. Outside hitters Emmi Sellman and Caroline Jurevicius contributed eight and six kills, respectively.
Addie Lyon guided the Penn State attack to .297 hitting while matching her career high of 61 assists. She added seven digs and three blocks.
Penn State totaled 11 blocks while holding Ohio State to .225 hitting. Mendelson fueled the effort as she was in on six blocks. The back-row defense was spearheaded by libero Gillian Grimes with 18 digs and Ava Falduto with 14. Those two also accounted for the Nittany Lions’ three aces as Falduto served for two and Grimes chipped in with one.
Hannah Jones had a big day in a losing effort for Ohio State, hitting .375 with 23 kills, 10 digs, five blocks, and one ace.
Penn State improved to 56-21 in the all-times series with Ohio State, beating the Buckeyes for the fifth-straight time.
Set 1
Martin totaled eight kills and the team hit a collective .440 as Penn State earned a 25-22 victory. The Nittany Lions found themselves in a 15-10 hole but managed to come back to break even at 17-17, highlighted by three blocks featuring the duo of Mendelson and Martin. Martin also added two kills during that stretch. The set had nine ties total, with the last one making it a game to five at 20-20. Penn State sealed the set with a service ace by Ava Falduto and two kills by Emmi Sellman, the second of which was for set point.
Set 2
Ohio State hit .375 to take set two in a 25-15 win. Martin and Mendelson combined for 10 kills, but the Buckeyes countered with four kills apiece by Jones and Reese Wuebker.
Set 3
Ohio State pulled off a narrow 31-29 victory. The third set remained gridlocked throughout, with 20 ties and 10 lead changes. Addie Lyon tallied 18 assists, while Mendelson chipped in four kills on .571 hitting. Martin had ten kills in the set loss. Penn State had four chances at set point, the first coming after a kill by Jurevicius and the following three after kills by Martin, but couldn’t get the final point. Set point was eventually scored on a kill by Jones, who also had seven kills in the set.
Set 4
Penn State bounced back with a dominant 25-14 win in set four. The effort was spearheaded by 15 kills from five Nittany Lions. Martin led the way with four, Nichols, Sellman and Mendelson had three apiece and Jurevicius chipped in with two.
Set 5
Martin hit .462 with six kills to lead Penn State to a 15-12 win in the final set. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but the Buckeyes managed to fight back and tie it at 7-7. Penn State then went on a 3-0 scoring run that started with a kill by Martin and ended with back-to-back kills by Jurevicius. After an Ohio State timeout, Nichols added a kill to put the score at 11-7. Penn State controlled the rest of the set until Martin put down her 34th kill to end the match.
Career Highs
Gabrielle Nichols – kills (11), aces (1), digs (3)
Up Next
Penn State hosts Michigan State on Friday at 7 p.m. The Spartans are 18-8 overall and 8-8 in the Big Ten following losses to No. 11 Wisconsin (3-0) and Michigan (3-0).
The 2025 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.