No. 14 Women’s Volleyball Drops Five-Set Match at No. 3 Wisconsin

MADISON, Wisc. – No. 14 Penn State took a 2-1 lead on No. 3 Wisconsin but dropped the final two sets in a 3-2 (25-27, 32-30, 20-25, 25-23, 15-7) loss in Big Ten women’s volleyball action Saturday night at the UW Field House.
 
The Lions, who were playing a nationally-ranked conference opponent on the road for the third straight match, saw their record dip to 13-6 overall and 7-3 in the conference. The Badgers improved to 17-1, 9-1.
 
A late comeback gave Penn State the win in set one. The Lions trailed 24-21 before going on a 4-0 run to take the lead at 25-24.  The first three points came on kills by Erika Pritchard, Jonni Parker and Adanna Rollins. The Lions took the lead on a Wisconsin attack error and went on to win the set 27-25 on a solo block by Rollins.
 
Kaitlyn Hord and Parker had five kills apiece in the opening set, while Allie Holland was strong at the net with five block assists. Pritchard entered with the Lions trailing 22-19 and had three kills on the team’s final eight points.
 
Penn State made another big comeback in set two but couldn’t close it out on two chances at set point. The Lions trailed 19-13 before going on a 5-0 run – with four of those points coming with Quinn Menger at the service line – to get within one at 19-18.  With Wisconsin leading 22-21, the teams traded the next 11 points before Penn State took the lead at 28-27 on a kill by Pritchard. Pritchard also had a kill that put the Lions up 29-28 and another that tied the score at 30-30. Julia Orzol and Dana Rettke had kills to finish the set in favor of the…