Penn State women’s volleyball shines with resilience in 4-set victory over Loyola (MD)

posted August 27, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Evan Smith

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa- Penn State took on Loyola (MD) in its second matchup of the Penn State invitational and was the same result as the opening game.

The Nittany Lions were the better team in their matchup with the Greyhounds, but this match was never a cakewalk for the blue and white.

Through errors and shifts of momentum, Loyola gave Penn State some hard times, even if the box score does not quite show it.

The match started with Taylor Trammell and Zoe Weatherington leading the Nittany Lions to an early lead. However, Loyola quickly came back as it capitalized on communication issues and errant attacks from the Nittany Lions.

The attack zone for Loyola shined throughout this game, carrying them to a 25-22 first-set victory.

The Greyhounds' defense remained throughout the remainder of the match, even though Penn State swept the next three sets.

Loyola repeatedly took high-paced spikes from the Nittany Lions and bounced them over to avoid giving up kills. This effort was led by Katie Forsythe, who was diving across the floor the whole match, keeping kills from dropping against Loyola.

The green and white main detriment in this match was a lack of depth for the offense. Of the team's 139 attacks, 53 of them came from junior Lauren Link. Link ended the match with three times as many kills, 21, as any of her teammates.

Following the first set, the Nittany Lions regrouped and started playing an aggressive style to take over the game.

For Penn State, a less-than-perfect performance was enough to take home a victory in four sets. The squad got their confidence back and dominated the second set, winning 25-17 with little comeback, this steamrolling continued into the third set with little confidence from the Greyhounds.

The Nittany Lions spread the ball around, having six players with over 10 attacks and no clear shot target, similar to Loyola.

Different players took the game over at times for the Lions, beginning with Taylor Trammell leading the opening set.

Zoe Weatherington was consistently a force for the Nittany Lions, leading the team with 13 kills. Maddy Bilinovic accounted for three aces in the early portion of the game.

The final set was a tense bout of action as the Greyhounds looked dominant early taking a lead until the Lions knotted the score at 16. From there, a filling morning crowd began to come unhinged as the Nittany Lions surged a 10-2 run to win the match.

Alexa Markley served up two aces during the run as she stayed server for eight points. It all ended when Kashauna Williams took over the game and ended it with her 12th kill of the game.

Katie Schumaker-Cawley showed she can lead her team through adversity in this game, leading her team to a 3-1 victory in the Lions' second match of the Penn State Invitational.

Evan Smith is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ers5828@psu.edu.