Despite a strong performance, the Nittany Lions take a loss to UCLA after leading 2-1 (and 17-10 in the 4th set). Kennedy Martin (26.5 points, 25 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) and Whitney Lauenstein (21.5 points, 19 kills, 1 ace, 3 blocks) led the team in scoring.
In the first match of this year’s west coast trip, the Nittany Lions faced the Bruins of UCLA. After a tough 1-3 loss at home last season, the Nittany Lions were looking to steal a win on the road. The Bruins showed impressive defense and frustrated the Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions were stronger for the majority of the match but as the match drew longer, the Bruins’ tenacity did not waver.
Kennedy Martin had a season-high 25 kills to lead all players. She also added 1 ace, 1 block and 7 digs to the stat sheet. Whitney Lauenstein also had a impressive outing with 19 kills, 1 ace and 3 blocks. The two hitters accounted for 48 points. However the combined 122 swings for the pair looked to have taken its toll in the 5th set.
Alexis Stucky had another double-double from 49 assists and 18 digs. Stucky set the team to a 0.245 hitting percentage which was actually higher that the 0.179 of UCLA. Emmi Sellman also had a notable performance off the bench with 12 points (9 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks) and 3 digs. Gabby Nichols also had a double digit performance with 5 kills, and a career-high 9 blocks.
The Nittany Lions led in most of the scoring categories: points (87-70), kills (69-55), and blocks (11-7). However the Nittany Lions also led in total unforced errors (27-18). More importantly, the errors that the Nittany Lions committed were concentrated in the 4th and 5th set which led to their loss.
The Nittany Lions goes down to a 4-3 record in the B1G, 12-5 overall. They will have a tight turnaround as they face the USC Trojans, tomorrow at 4PM local time (7 PM Eastern) in the Galen Center.