Penn State rallies to beat Michigan 3-1 in Ann Arbor (23-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-13)

Posted on by Ethan Kasales
Ava Falduto (2) receives the ball during Penn State’s sweep of South Florida on Sept. 18 at Rec Hall. (Photo by Ethan Kasales)

No. 14 Penn State women’s volleyball regrouped after dropping its first set of Big Ten play this season, beating Michigan 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-13) Friday night in Ann Arbor.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Penn St. 23 25 25 25 3
Michigan 25 17 13 13 1

The Nittany Lions (9-2, 1-0 Big Ten) hit .538 with zero attack errors in the third set. Alexis Stucky guided the team to a .278 hitting percentage for the match and had 39 assists, 11 digs, four blocks, and one of Penn State’s six aces. Michigan’s servers did not record a single ace.

Kennedy Martin (18 kills, .340), Emmi Sellman (eight kills, .350), and Whitney Lauenstein (eight kills, .412) paced Penn State’s offense versus the Wolverines (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten). Sophomore Alexis Ewing started at outside hitter Friday night and had three kills, but was held to a negative hitting percentage (-.071). Sellman added five digs, three blocks, and two aces in what was her best match of the season so far.

Ava Falduto (15), Haley Burgdorf (11), and Stucky (11) all finished with double-digit digs. Jocelyn Nathan (six) and Lexi Gin (one) added some digs of their own off the bench, as 11 Nittany Lions saw the court Friday. Burgdorf was the only Penn State freshman who played in the team’s Big Ten opener, though all four have participated quite a bit in the first half of the season.

Middle blockers Gabrielle Nichols (six kills, six blocks) and Ryla Jones (five kills, five blocks) continued their efficient seasons for the Nittany Lions, who bounced back in impressive fashion after a disappointing four-set loss to Tennessee in their final non-conference match last Sunday at Rec Hall.

Penn State will next face Michigan State (10-1, 0-1 Big Ten) Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in East Lansing. The match will air live on Big Ten Network. The Spartans lost in four sets to Washington Friday at the Breslin Center.

Penn State showed resolve and played with confidence after its first-set loss to the Wolverines, looking much more composed as the match went on. Lauenstein put some recent struggles behind her with an excellent match Friday night, only recording one attack error on 17 swings.

Sunday’s highly anticipated contest versus Michigan State has big implications for both teams, as Kristen Kelsay’s Spartans went undefeated in non-conference play in her second season as head coach of her alma mater.

Match Details

Penn St. Michigan
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 14 8 46 0.130 15 5 43 0.233
2 14 4 40 0.250 10 10 35 0.000
3 14 0 26 0.538 12 9 33 0.091
4 12 2 32 0.313 11 8 40 0.075
Total 54 14 144 0.278 48 32 151 0.106
Penn St. Michigan
Points 71 50
Digs 58 65
Kills 54 48
Assists 50 44
Blocks 11 2
Aces 6 0

Match Leaders

Penn St. – Leaders
Kills Kennedy Martin (18), Emmi Sellman (8), Whitney Lauenstein (8)
Aces Lexi Gin (2), Emmi Sellman (2), Alexis Stucky (1), Whitney Lauenstein (1)
Blocks Gabrielle Nichols (6), Ryla Jones (5), Alexis Stucky (4)
Assists Alexis Stucky (39), Ava Falduto (7), Haley Burgdorf (2)
Digs Ava Falduto (15), Haley Burgdorf (11), Alexis Stucky (11)
Michigan – Leaders
Kills Cymarah Gordon (16), Ella Demetrician (15), Sydney Schnichels (9)
Aces
Blocks Ece Senyapici (2), Cymarah Gordon (1), Sydney Schnichels (1)
Assists Morgan Burke (21), Camille Edwards (16), Meredith Martin (3), Ella Demetrician (3)
Digs Meredith Martin (29), Camille Edwards (9), Morgan Burke (9)

Penn State Stats

Attack Set Serve Block Def Rec
# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
18 Kennedy Martin 4 18 2 47 0.340 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 0 19
13 Emmi Sellman 3 8 1 20 0.350 0 0 2 2 0 3 0 5 0 0 11.5
26 Whitney Lauenstein 3 8 1 17 0.412 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 9.5
8 Gabrielle Nichols 4 6 2 18 0.222 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 0 9.5
7 Ryla Jones 4 5 0 11 0.455 0 0 0 1 0 5 1 3 0 0 7.5
5 Alexis Stucky 4 4 2 9 0.222 39 0 1 1 0 4 0 11 0 0 7
27 Alexis Ewing 1 3 4 14 -0.071 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
9 Lexi Gin 4 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
23 Haley Burgdorf 4 2 2 8 0.000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 2
11 Jocelyn Nathan 4 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
2 Ava Falduto 4 0 0 0 0.000 7 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 0 0 0
Total 54 14 144 0.278 50 0 6 6 1 20 2 58 0 0 71

Michigan Stats

Attack Set Serve Block Def Rec
# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
3 Cymarah Gordon 4 16 5 41 0.268 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 16.5
9 Ella Demetrician 4 15 11 46 0.087 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 0 3 15
22 Sydney Schnichels 4 9 11 35 -0.057 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 0 1 9.5
5 Lydia Johnson 4 4 3 12 0.083 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
12 Jenna Hanes 4 2 1 10 0.100 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 2
4 Ece Senyapici 4 1 1 6 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 2
13 Meredith Martin 4 1 0 1 1.000 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 29 0 1 1
7 Morgan Burke 4 0 0 0 0.000 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0
10 Carly Greskovics 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Camille Edwards 4 0 0 0 0.000 16 1 0 1 0 0 0 9 0 0 0
28 Trixie McMillin 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 48 32 151 0.106 44 2 0 4 0 4 4 65 0 5 50

Box Score