Penn State women’s volleyball continues dominant stretch in win over Albany
The No. 11 Nittany Lions remained undefeated as they swept Albany in three sets in the Penn State Classic.
Penn State has officially reached a double-digit win streak, and is not expecting to break it anytime soon. After a dominant performance, the Nittany Lions will close out the classic against Coastal Carolina Saturday night, hoping to remain undefeated as they head into conference play.
Coming off a sweep over Howard Friday night, the blue and white was all smiles during warm-ups. This lighthearted energy quickly converted to utter determination as the first serve came.
Despite a few early mistakes, the blue and white found its rhythm and was unstoppable through all three sets.
Anjelina Starck took over as the offensive leader for Penn State with 97 kills on the season, taking that title from Kashauna Williams, who has 96. Starck had five kills on the day, but stood out more defensively with seven digs.
The Utah transfer, Zoe Weatherington, had all eyes on her throughout the contest, getting the match point for two of three sets played and having a team-high of six kills on the day.
Penn State truly exemplified the meaning of a team win, where 10 players had kills, six players had blocks, and 11 had digs.
It’s no secret that the Nittany Lion offense had a dominant performance on the day, but the defense is what secured the win. The team tallied 20 blocks on the day, with Katie Clark accounting for nine of them.
Penn State’s success at the net is anything but luck. Outside hitter Allie Holland is currently ranked fourth in the nation with 1.71 solo blocks per set.
Albany brought in multiple offensive threats that were able to keep it in the game throughout the day. Anna Myhal had an outstanding performance despite the loss, tallying four kills. Working alongside her was Alexa Harris who had a team-high of five.
Charlotte Macken for the Great Danes had her work cut out for her as the libero against Allie Holland and the Penn State hitters, but held her own with 10 digs and multiple big saves.
It is evident that there is no place like home for coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. She spent her collegiate career in Happy Valley where she was a two-time All-American and helped her team to a national championship.
In her short coaching campaign, she has brought Penn State to the Top 25 rankings, where they are one of three teams that remain undefeated on the season.
The Nittany Lions have one more matchup before heading into Big Ten play, where they are hoping to carry this momentum to break new records.
Molly White is a junior majoring in kinesiology. To contact her, email mkw5766@psu.edu.
