WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Playing its 11th nationally-ranked opponent of the season, No. 25 Penn State women’s volleyball came up short in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-22) loss to No. 9 Purdue in a Big Ten match Friday night at Holloway Gymnasium.
The Nittany Lions are now 13-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference, while the Boilermakers moved to 20-3 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten with their seventh-straight win.
Penn State junior Kennedy Martin hit .298 with 20 kills, four digs, and two blocks. It was her 12th match this season with 20+ kills. She hit .412 with eight kills in the opening set and .389 with nine kills in the second, giving her eight or more kills in a set 13 times this season.
Emmi Sellman tallied nine kills and had one of Penn State’s three aces. Maggie Mendelson finished with eight kills and four blocks.
Gillian Grimes led Penn State’s defensive effort with 15 digs. Setter Addie Lyon tallied six digs in addition to her two aces.
Kenna Wollard did the most damage for Purdue, hitting .417 with 19 kills. Akasha Anderson and Grace Heaney tallied 10 kills apiece.
Set 1
Martin hit .412 with eight kills, but Purdue countered with eight kills on .500 hitting from Wollard and six kills on .417 hitting from Heaney to get a 25-20 win in the opening set. Penn State’s last lead of the set came at 13-12 after a block by Mendelson and Alexis Ewing and a kill by Martin. The score was then tied as late as 15-15 following a kill by Jordan Hopp. Purdue went on a 4-0 run and led the rest of the way. Set point was eventually scored on a kill by Heaney.
Set 2
Martin added nine more kills in the second set, but Purdue prevailed 25-21 behind a balanced attack that saw five players record multiple kills. Penn State trailed 5-1 early and later went down by as much as seven at 13-6. The Nittany Lions fought back to knot the score at 15-all following a 5-0 run that started with a kill by Sellman and an ace by Lyon before finishing with three straight kills by Martin. The score was again tied at 16-16 after a kill by Mendelson, but Purdue scored the next two points and never trailed again. This time set point was later scored on a kill by Wollard.
Set 3
Penn State held Purdue to .200 hitting but still came up short 25-22 in the third and final set. The Nittany Lions again trailed big, falling behind 17-11. They fought back to tie the score at 19-all after a 3-0 run that was started with a kill by Martin. They tied it again at 20-20 on a service error, at 21-21 with a kill by Sellman, and a final time at 22-22 with another kill by Sellman. The Boilermakers closed the match with a 3-0 run, getting three straight kills from Wollard.
Up Next
Penn State heads to Champaign to play Illinois on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The Illini are 12-10 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten after five straight losses to Purdue, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.