UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball celebrated Senior Day with a 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-21, 25-23) win over No. 11 Purdue in a Big Ten match Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions won their fifth-straight match, including three over nationally-ranked opponents, to improve to 17-5 overall and 9-3 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers dropped to 14-7, 7-5.
Kennedy Martin hit .321 with 24 kills, nine digs, and six blocks to help Penn State take down Purdue. The senior is the NCAA active leader with 1,991 career kills. She has been especially strong over the last four matches, hitting .381 while averaging 5.50 kills/set. Martin was named both the AVCA Division I National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week after wins over No. 10 Oregon and No. 18 Indiana last week.
Emmi Sellman joined Martin in double-digits with 12 kills and added four blocks. Kendall Northern and Whitney Lauenstein contributed six kills apiece. Northern led a strong defensive effort at the net as she was in on seven of Penn State’s 12 blocks.
Jocelyn Nathan, playing in her fourth season in Happy Valley, put together a strong performance on Senior Day. She shared the team lead with nine digs. Alexis Stucky tallied eight digs in addition to her 40 assists.
Addy Tindall led Purdue with 16 kills. Grace Heaney and Dior Charles added 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Set 1
Penn State held Purdue to -.026 hitting as it cruised to a 25-17 win in set one. The Boilermakers had nine attack errors despite just two blocks by Penn State. The Nittany Lions pulled away early with a 5-0 run to go up 11-6. The Boilermakers only got as close as three the rest of the way before the Nittany Lions ended the set with a kill by Stucky.
Set 2
Tindall went off for seven kills to lead Purdue to a 25-18 win in set two. Martin hit .600 with six kills in a losing effort for Penn State. The Nittany Lions trailed by just one at 18-17 before the Boilermakers scored seven of the final eight points to close the set. Tindall had a kill for set point.
Set 3
Penn State tallied five blocks, including four by Northern, in a 25-21 win in set three. The Nittany Lions trailed 19-17 before going on a 4-0 run. Martin had a kill and a block during that stretch. It was still just a two-point difference at 23-21 before Penn State scored the final two points. The first came on a kill by Martin, while the second was a block by Martin and Northern.
Set 4
Martin hit .368 with nine kills and two blocks to lead Penn State to a 25-23 win in set four. Sellman also stepped up big with five kills on .556 hitting. The Nittany Lions again trailed late at 21-19 before taking the lead with a 3-0 run. Martin opened the run with a kill, while Sellman capped it with back-to-back kills. The teams traded points to knot the score at 23-all. Stucky scored the go-ahead point with a kill and then found Martin for a kill for match point.
Career Highs
Lexi Gin – assists (2)
Kendall Northern – assists (3), aces (1), blocks (7)
Emmi Sellman – blocks (4)
Up Next
No. 13 Penn State travels to play No. 21 Minnesota on Friday at 7 p.m.
The 2026 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.