Box Score UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball bounced back strong after suffering its first Big Ten loss of the season on Friday night, rolling to a 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19) win over Northwestern on Saturday night at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions improved to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten with the win, while the Wildcats fell to 7-10 overall and 2-4 in the conference. Northwestern was coming off a five-set win over Maryland and held a 2-1 lead over Minnesota before falling in five sets in their match prior to that.
Penn State hit .372 in the match, including .500 in the first set and .419 in set three. Gabby Blossom guided the offense with 45 assists and completed a double-double with 15 digs. She also served for three aces, giving her a team-best 19 on the season. That ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
Penn State was dominant in the middle against Northwestern with senior Kaitlyn Hord and sophomore Allie Holland both putting up efficient numbers. Hord hit .522 with 13 kills and had two block assists. Holland hit .500 with 11 kills, four blocks and one ace.
Senior libero Jenna Hampton finished with 17 digs. Over the past four matches she has averaged 19.75 digs per match and 4.65 per set.
After putting together a solid performance off the bench against Nebraska on Friday, freshman Angelina Starck received her first career start at outside hitter on Saturday. She didn’t disappoint, hitting .350 with nine kills, 11 digs and three blocks. Adanna Rollins also hit over .300, totaling seven kills on a .333 clip.
Penn State didn’t trail in either of its wins in set two and set four. The closest set of the match was the third, which featured six ties, but Northwestern never trailed in that one.
Temi Thomas-Ailara, a Preseason All-Big Ten selection, had a busy night for Northwestern, finishing with 18 kills on 42 swings. Hanna Lesiak had 12 kills on.303 hitting and finished off a double-double with 11 digs.
Penn State has won 32 of the last 33 matches in the series with Northwestern and improved to 29-1 all-time against the Wildcats at Rec Hall.
The Lions are back at Rec Hall for their next match as they host Rutgers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. That will be the team’s annual Dig Pink match.
Rutgers is 8-8 overall and 0-5 in the conference following a 3-1 loss to Indiana on…
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