UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State received two awards from the Big Ten for the second-straight week Monday. Kennedy Martin earned her second-straight Big Ten Player of the Week honor, while Kendall Northern was selected as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
The awards come after Penn State posted a pair of Big Ten wins at Rec Hall, defeating Ohio State 3-1 on Thursday and No. 11 Purdue 3-1 on Saturday. The Nittany Lions have won five straight matches, including three against nationally-ranked opponents.
Martin hit .337 while averaging 5.25 kills, 2.75 digs, 1.50 blocks, and 0.50 aces per set over the two wins. She racked up 24 kills while hitting .321 and added nine digs and six blocks in the win over the nationally-ranked Boilermakers. That came just one match after she hit .359 with 18 kills, 13 digs, six blocks, and four aces in the victory over the Buckeyes.
Martin has now won five Big Ten Player of the Week awards during her two seasons at Penn State.
Northern picked up the first conference weekly honor of her career. She averaged 1.63 blocks/set while helping hold the two opponents to .171 hitting. She put up nearly identical numbers in both matches, totaling six kills and seven blocks against Purdue and six kills and six blocks against Ohio State.
Penn State has won four weekly awards from the Big Ten this season. Martin has been named Player of the Week twice, Northern has one Defensive Player of the Week accolade, and Alexis Stucky has one Setter of the Week honor.
No. 11 Penn State next plays at No. 19 Minnesota on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
The 2026 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.