BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 16 Penn State women’s volleyball beat a nationally-ranked team for the second time in three days as it took down No. 18 Indiana 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21) in Big Ten action Sunday at Wilkinson Hall. The Nittany Lions head back to Happy Valley at 15-5 overall and 7-3 in the conference with their third-straight win, while the Hoosiers sit at 12-7, 5-5.
Kennedy Martin led a prolific Penn State attack, hitting .514 with 21 kills, nine digs, five blocks, and two aces. Whitney Lauenstein tallied 14 kills, while Gabrielle Nichols hit .500 with seven kills. Alexis Stucky totaled 45 assists as the Nittany Lions hit .376. She boosted the hitting percentage herself with five kills and no errors on seven swings.
Penn State dominated the serving battle, racking up 10 aces compared to just three for Indiana. Ava Falduto led the way with four aces, while Stucky, Martin, and Nichols contributed two apiece. Stucky’s second ace was the 100th of her career, while the second ace by Nichols secured match point.
Avry Tatum was the top performer for Indiana, hitting .297 with 17 kills and four blocks. Jaidyn Jager joined her in double-figures with 11 kills.
Penn State improved to 63-2 in the all-time series with Indiana.
Set 1
Martin was perfect on the attack with six kills on six swings as Penn State rolled to a 25-16 win in set one. Stucky tallied 12 assists as the Nittany Lions hit .542 as a team. She also had one of the team’s three aces. The other two came from Falduto. Penn State broke a 6-6 tie with a 4-0 run, getting two kills from Martin and one of Falduto’s aces during that stretch. Indiana stopped that run only to see Penn State do it again with another four straight points to take a 14-7 advantage. Stucky led the charge this time with a kill and an ace. The Nittany Lions went on to lead by as much as nine multiple times, including the final score following a kill by Lauenstein for set point.
Set 2
Jager’s six kills helped Indiana tie the match with a 25-22 win in set two despite Penn State hitting .314 in the set. The Nittany Lions had to play catchup after falling behind 10-5. They got within one on nine occasions but were never able to score the tying point. It was a one-point difference at 21-20 before Indiana scored four of the final five points, the last of which came on a block by Victoria Gray and Isabel Clark.
Set 3
Lauenstein hit .857 with six kills to lead Penn State to a 25-16 win in set three. The Nittany Lions hit .464 behind 11 assists by Stucky. Penn State started fast with a 4-0 run that was capped with an ace by Falduto, but Indiana fought back immediately to take its first lead at 8-7 after a kill by Tatum. The Nittany Lions responded with a 4-0 run and led the rest of the way. Kendall Northern fueled that run with a block and a kill. Shortly after that they went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-9 lead. Emmi Sellman started the run with a kill, while Martin had two aces and Northern had two kills. The Nittany Lions controlled the rest of the set until it ended with a kill by Martin.
Set 4
Martin took over in set four, leading Penn State to a 25-21 win while hitting .875 with seven kills. The Nittany Lions led by five at 11-6 after a kill by Stucky, but the Hoosiers battled back to knot the score at 16-all thanks to a 3-0 run. The score was tied again at 17-all before Penn State scored back-to-back points on a kill by Haley Burgdorf and an Indiana attack error. The Hoosiers had just one more chance to tie the score as they pulled within one at 19-18, but Lauenstein came through with back-to-back blocks, teaming up with Northern for the first one and going solo on the second block. Match point was later scored on an ace by Nichols.
Career Highs
Gabrielle Nichols – aces (2)
Kendall Northern – assists (1)
Up Next
Penn State hosts Ohio State on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Buckeyes are 10-10 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten following three straight losses to UCLA (3-2), No. 18 Indiana (3-0), and No. 10 Oregon (3-1).
The 2026 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.