UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Kennedy Martin and Haley Burgdorf each posted double-doubles to lead No. 16 Penn State to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19) win over visiting Iowa in a Big Ten women’s volleyball match Saturday night at Rec Hall. Martin hit .526 with 24 kills, 14 digs, three blocks, and four aces, while Burgdorf hit .588 with 11 kills and 11 digs.
The Nittany Lions moved to 10-4 overall and evened their conference record at 2-2. The Hawkeyes head back to Iowa City at 12-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
Penn State hit .317 as a team thanks to 54 assists over four sets by Alexis Stucky. Whitney Lauenstein finished with 13 kills, Kendall Northern totaled a career-high seven, and Gabrielle Nichols contributed five on .333 hitting. Nichols also spearheaded the defensive effort with a match-high six blocks.
The Nittany Lions racked up seven aces in the match, led by Martin’s four. Lexi Gin chipped in with two for the second time in four matches, while Ava Falduto added one.
Hanna Whittingstall paced Iowa, hitting .350 with eight kills, five digs, and three blocks.
Penn State improved to 62-0 in the all-time series with Iowa, including a 6-0 mark under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley.
Set 1
Martin started strong, hitting .562 with 10 kills and five digs, but Iowa was able to come out on top with a 25-22 win in set one. The Hawkeyes won despite having just two more kills than Martin as a team.
Set 2
Five Penn State players had multiple kills as the Nittany Lions took set two 25-17. Lauenstein led the way with four kills, while Martin tallied a pair of aces in addition to her two kills. Penn State started fast with a 4-0 lead and led the rest of the way. The largest lead was eight at 23-15 following an Iowa attack error and again at 24-16 after an Iowa service error. The Nittany Lions then finished with an eight-point advantage thanks to a kill by Burgdorf for set point.
Set 3
Martin hit .400 with six kills and two blocks to lead Penn State to a 25-22 win in set three. The Nittany Lions used a 4-0 run to break an 11-11 tie and take a 15-11 lead. Gin had one of her two aces during that stretch. Iowa got as close as two multiple times, the last of which came at 24-22 with an ace by Jaimie Marquardt. She followed it with a service error to close the set.
Set 4
Martin continued to dominate in set four, hitting .750 with six kills, four digs, and two aces in Penn State’s 25-19 win to close the match. The teams traded runs early. The Hawkeyes tied the score at 11-11 with a 5-0 run only to see Penn State respond with a 3-0 run that included kills by Lauenstein and Martin and a block by Lauenstein and Nichols. The Nittany Lions controlled the rest of the set before ending the match on Lauenstein’s 13th kill of the night.
Career Highs
Haley Burgdorf – kills (11)
Lexi Gin – digs (5)
Kendall Northern – kills (7), digs (2)
Up Next
Penn State hosts Northwestern on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats are 7-8 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten following a 3-1 loss to Ohio State on Saturday.