Penn State Volleyball Sweeps UCF Behind Parker’s Big Night

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 12 Penn State women’s volleyball swept tournament host UCF 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-19) Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd in Orlando, Florida.

2021 PSU Roster

Jonni Parker led the Nittany Lions to victory with a match-high 19 kills (.600) and only one attack error. Parker matched her offensive output from the previous two matches combined and is now just four kills away from becoming the latest Penn State player to join the 1,000 kills club.

Although service errors again plagued the Nittany Lions like they did in a 3-1 loss to Georgia Tech in the season opener Friday, Penn State’s strong hitting percentage of .337 helped alleviate some pressure. Gabby Blossom put together a solid outing with a match-high 39 assists, five digs, and two total blocks.

The Nittany Lions have three players on their roster from Florida, including senior libero Jenna Hampton, junior setter Emily Oerther, and sophomore outside hitter AC Fitzpatrick, all of whom likely had large contingents of family and friends in attendance. Hampton paced Penn State’s defense with a match-high 12 digs.

Erika Pritchard finished second on the team with nine kills in the win and added six digs, but struggled to keep the ball in play at times with six attack errors against the Golden Knights, who swept St. John’s earlier in the day. Saturday night’s match was the first time Penn State and UCF had met on the volleyball court.

Penn State’s middle blockers, Kaitlyn Hord and Allie Holland, combined for 11 kills and six blocks in another efficient performance. Holland and freshman defensive specialist Cassie Kuerschen each had two of Penn State’s four aces. Adanna Rollins and Fitzpatrick rounded out the offense with four and two kills, respectively.

The Nittany Lions (2-1) wore their sleeveless jerseys for the first time this season after debuting them against Indiana this spring. They return to Rec Hall for the home opener against Iowa State next Friday at 8 p.m. as part of the annual Penn State Classic.

Box Score

Match Details

Penn St. UCF
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 23 4 43 0.442 15 3 42 0.286
2 12 5 31 0.226 11 6 31 0.161
3 10 2 27 0.296 11 9 32 0.063
Total 45 11 101 0.337 37 18 105 0.181
Penn St. UCF
Points 56 43
Kills 45 37
Aces 4 3
Blocks 7 3
Assists 39 35
Digs 38 40

Match Leaders

Penn State – Leaders
Kills Jonni Parker (19), Erika Pritchard (9), Kaitlyn Hord (6)
Aces Cassie Kuerschen (2), Allie Holland (2)
Blocks Allie Holland (4), Kaitlyn Hord (2), Jonni Parker (2), Gabby Blossom (2)
Assists Gabby Blossom (39)
Digs Jenna Hampton (12), Adanna Rollins (7), Erika Pritchard (6)
UCF – Leaders
Kills McKenna Melville (11), Tali Marmen (9), Anne-Marie Watson (8)
Aces Chloe Scheer (2), McKenna Melville (1)
Blocks Anne-Marie Watson (2), Nerissa Moravec (2), Claudia Dillon (1), Amber Olson (1)
Assists Amber Olson (26), Tali Marmen (4), McKenna Melville (3)
Digs McKenna Melville (11), Chloe Scheer (9), Tali Marmen (8)

Penn State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
9 Jonni Parker 3 19 1 30 0.600 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 2 0 0 20.5
5 Erika Pritchard 3 9 6 26 0.115 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 6 0 1 9.5
20 Allie Holland 3 5 1 9 0.444 0 0 2 3 1 3 0 2 0 0 9.5
23 Kaitlyn Hord 3 6 1 15 0.333 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 7
1 Adanna Rollins 3 4 2 15 0.133 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 4
0 Annie Cate Fitzpatrick 1 2 0 3 0.667 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.5
12 Cassie Kuerschen 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
13 Gabby Blossom 3 0 0 3 0.000 39 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 0 0 1
15 Jenna Hampton 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 12 0 1 0
2 Maddy Bilinovic 2 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
3 Keatan Broughton 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 Anastasiya Kudryashova 2 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 45 11 101 0.337 39 1 4 13 2 10 0 38 0 2 56

UCF Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
20 McKenna Melville 3 11 8 39 0.077 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 11 0 0 12
16 Tali Marmen 3 9 3 26 0.231 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 2 9
32 Anne-Marie Watson 3 8 3 19 0.263 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 0 9
7 Nerissa Moravec 3 5 1 12 0.333 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 6
15 Claudia Dillon 3 3 2 7 0.143 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 3.5
2 Chloe Scheer 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 9 0 1 2
3 Amber Olson 3 1 0 1 1.000 26 1 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 0 1.5
19 MaKenzie Chambers 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Emily Lawrence 3 0 0 0 0.000 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
11 Katelyn Grimes 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 37 18 105 0.181 35 1 3 9 0 6 2 40 0 3 43

Box Score