It was a total team effort for the Nittany Lions as they took a 3-0 victory over the Ohio Bobcats. All 16 players saw court time in the match. Caroline Jurevicius (6 kills, 0.625 hitting percentage, 4 aces), Haley Burgdorf (6 kills, 0.400 hitting percentage, 1 block) and Gabrielle Nichols (5 kills, 2 blocks) led the team in sweep.
After a strong win over #4 Stanford, the Nittany Lions aimed to continue the momentum against the Bobcats of Ohio University. The match began with the usual starters and the Bobcats showed that despite their height disparity, they were ready to take on the Nittany Lions. Blair Bailey (11k, 1 block) and the Bobcats fought hard in the first set pushing the Nittany Lions to a 25-21 finish.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 21 | 23 | 9 | 0 |
| Penn St. | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
At the start of the second set onward, Coach Schumacher Cawley featured the strong depth of this team. Freshman Setter Danielle Whitmire (21 assists, 4 aces, 2 blocks and 1 kill) set the team to 0.361 hitting percentage in the second and third set (including 0.600 in the 3rd). Whitmire was impressive with her extended playing time, making excellent decisions on which hitters to set. In tandem with Alexis Stucky (x assists), all players in hitting positions got at least 2 kills. Whitmire and Caroline Jurevicius (6k, 4 aces) continued the strong serving the Coach Schumacher-Cawley asks from the team as they both earned 4 aces each. The RS Junior right side also showed that she developed her offense to not only feature booming hits but also hitting high-hands and angles.
Haley Burgdorf (6 kills, 1 block) continues her strong play from the Stanford match as she was only 1 of 3 players that played all 3 sets. Kendall Northern (2 kills, 5 blocks) also had a significant amount of play this match as she showed her impressive slide attacks and a really strong blocking presence. Ava Falduto led the team in digs with 8 and shared time as a libero with Jocelyn Nathan who wore the libero jersey in the 3rd and contributed 3 digs.
The Nittany Lions led in every department including making less errors than the Bobcats. They led in kills (38-29), assists (31-26), digs (24-22) and service errors (4-6). Three stats that Nittany Lion fans should keep an eye on are the aces (11-5), blocks (9-3) and hitting errors (15-18). This serving and blocking performance is something the Nittany Lions will hope to bring into B1G play as they were in the lower half in the B1G last year (14th in aces and 11th in blocks). Additionally, the Nittany Lions have been a high hitting error team so far this non-conference and with high-caliber blockers and defenders in the B1G, this will need to stay lower to compete at the top.
This match is the first to feature all 16 players on the roster as Alexis Ewing (3 kills, 0.400 hitting percentage) was not in uniform at the start of the season against UConn and High Point. This depth will be important as the Nittany Lions gets closer to Big Ten play. With this win, the Nittany Lions go up 6-1 and will face in-state opponent, Villanova on Tuesday before they close out the non-conference slate with the Penn State Classic vs. South Florida and Tennessee.
Post-Match Press Conference
After the match, Coach Katie, Danielle Whitmire, and Caroline Jurevicius answered questions from the media. Below is a transcript of the questions and answers, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Opening Statement by Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley.
Question: Coach you were able to use all 16 players tonight. How important is that especially with B1G play coming up?
Coach Katie: Yeah, everyone did a nice job in preseason practices for us, and we know that we’re going to need everyone to be successful in this conference. So I think getting some great experience for these players is what we need to do, and they took advantage of it and did well.
Question: Danielle, four service aces in a row in that last set. What was going right for you?
Danielle Whitmire: I don’t know. Just going back and hearing my team hype me up, it really helps with getting the energy flowing through the set – having the foot on the gas at all times.
Question: Caroline was that the most aces you’ve had in your career? including high school or club?
Caroline Jurevicius: Yeah it’s because I wasn’t hand gripped at all. It’s funny, the psychological game that serving is. I just told myself “I trust you, put it in” and then that worked obviously. So maybe that’s a new routine for me.
Question: Danielle, I think that was the longest you have had the chance to play so far, what was that like for you?
Danielle Whitmire: A lot of fun. I love the girls, I love the game. So I mean, we were just having fun out there. I love playing volleyball because of that. It was a lot of fun and I was grateful for the opportunity.
Question: Coach, what are some of the things that you’ve seen from Danielle so far?
Coach Katie: Danielle’s a very good player. I think she competes hard and she knows how to move the ball around. It’s natural for her. So it’s nice to see her get out there and be in there for quite some time, and she will help this program win.
Question: This is Lexi Ewing’s first appearance this season. What did you think of her play?
Coach Katie: I thought she did great! It was nice to see her get in and take a swing and, you know, had some block touches and was aware of what’s going on. It’s nice to have have her back and healthy.
Question: Seems like Kendall was everywhere tonight. What did you make of her performance?
Coach Katie: Yeah Kendall’s fast. Kendall is everywhere. Yeah, she plays hard and she is probably one of the quickest players side to side and off the floor. And Danielle does a good job of throwing the ball up to her and she’ll definitely go get it.
Question: Ohio kept it close those first two sets. And then in that third set the team ran away with it. What happened between the second and the third?
Coach Katie: I think they had a snack in the locker room or something. (laughs). No, I think they just refocused and did the little things well and found ways to score points, and I thought we served really well.
Question: CJ, the team hit 0.600 in the third set. What was working well for you offensively?
Caroline Jurevicius: Moving the ball around. Ohio had a pretty scrappy block for being undersized and I think we did a good job at not falling into the trap of hitting into the smaller blockers. Just making sure we stay high, go deep corners, use hands. All the fun stuff that we drill and practice during the week, it really came to fruition during this match, especially during that last set.
Question: What are some of the things you enjoy about playing with Danielle?
Caroline Jurevicius: Oh my gosh, she makes me laugh every day. It’s always a good time with her. I’ve spent a lot of time with this girl right here and I love being around her a lot. I’ve loved getting to know her over the past, what nine month you’ve been here? And it’s amazing to see how you’ve grown as a person and as a player. I can’t wait to see what’s next for her and keep doing this with her.
Box Score
Match Details
| Ohio | Penn St. | |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 37 | 58.5 |
| Kills | 29 | 38 |
| Aces | 5 | 11 |
| Blocks | 3 | 9 |
| Assists | 26 | 31 |
| Digs | 22 | 24 |
Match Leaders
| Ohio – Leaders | |
|---|---|
| Kills | Blair Bailey (11), Rose Mahin (6), Gentry Brown (4) |
| Aces | Darbi Ricketts (2), Rose Mahin (2), Bryn Janke (1) |
| Blocks | Gentry Brown (2), Emily Waddell (2), Bailey Blair (1), Olivia Gardner (1) |
| Assists | Bryn Janke (11), Lillie Meinhart (7), Rowan Kelly (5) |
| Digs | Gentry Brown (5), Rose Mahin (4), Lacy Marx (4), Darbi Ricketts (3) |
