Penn State Women’s Volleyball Takes Care of Rutgers in Four Sets
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 16 Penn State women’s volleyball (13-4, 6-1) continued to roll in their “Dig Pink” match, defeating Rutgers (8-10, 0-7) three sets to one (25-17, 25-10, 22-25, 25-18) on Friday night.
The win marked the Nittany Lion’s second straight conference win, improving to 6-1 in Big Ten play. The Rutgers Scarlett Knights fall to 0-7 in Big Ten play, evening them up with Iowa for the worst record in conference play.
Despite the victory, Penn State head coach Russ Rose was critical of his team’s performance.
“We started out okay and then got progressively worse,” Rose said.
After some back and forth, Penn State was able to take the first set by a score of 25-17.
The Nittany Lions were led by Kaitlyn Hord who had five kills in just six attempts. Tonight's “Dig Pink” match meant something more to Hord.
“It means a lot to me because my mom had breast cancer, so tonight was just dedicated to her,” Hord said. She finished the night with an impressive 16 kills and a .667 hit percentage.
The Lions continued to pile it on with a dominant 25-10 win in the second set. Penn State’s Adanna Rollins had a solid outing with 15 kills, 14 digs and three blocks.
The Scarlet Knights battled back with resilience, winning the third set 25-22. It was Rutgers' first set win against the Nittany Lions since 2001.
“I would never say ‘hey, we should beat someone 3-0', because I just don’t think that’s respectful of the sport or the opponents,” Rose said about not being able to beat Rutgers in straight sets.
Beka Kojadinovic led the Scarlet Knights with 12 kills and five blocks on the night.
“Rutgers won the third set, because they made less errors than we made,” Rose said.
The Nittany Lions came firing back out of the gates, scoring the first six points of the fourth set and forcing Rutgers to call an early timeout.
However, the Scarlet Knights kept things close continuing to battle back and play tough against the Nittany Lions before a late Penn State run secured them the set and match point 25-18.
On a positive note, for the Nittany Lions, team chemistry seems higher than ever.
“If I struggle, I just look at (Jenna Hampton) and she’s got that positive energy around her,” Hord said of her teammate. “And of course, she’s a monster in the defensive position."
Penn State heads to Indiana to take on No. 6 Purdue on Sunday in a crucial Big Ten matchup.
Maclain Young is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email macyoung21@gmail.com.
