Gabby Blossom Named Big Ten Setter Of The Week

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

Penn State women’s volleyball co-captain Gabby Blossom was named the Big Ten Setter of the Week Monday after leading the Nittany Lions to a pair of sweeps against Rutgers and Ohio State to open conference play.

Blossom finished with 66 assists, 19 digs, three kills, and three aces last week en route to her fifth career Big Ten Setter of the Week honors. She was instrumental in Penn State capturing its highest-ranked win since 2018 on Sunday against the then-No. 3 Buckeyes.

Blossom is the second Nittany Lion to be recognized by the conference so far this season, joining classmate and fellow three-time captain Jonni Parker, who was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on September 6.

Blossom, a business psychology major who hails from St. Louis, Missouri, is in the midst of her third season as Penn State’s starting setter. She shared weekly Big Ten honors with Minnesota’s Stephanie Samedy, Purdue’s Jael Johnson, Maryland’s Rainelle Jones, and Nebraska’s Lindsay Krause.

Blossom currently has 2,352 career assists for the Nittany Lions and exactly 400 this season heading into Wednesday’s road match against Maryland, which will provide a solid test after the Terrapins beat then-No. 2 Wisconsin in five sets last week.

Despite some apparent early season struggles to build chemistry with Penn State’s new outside hitters, Adanna Rollins and Erika Pritchard, Blossom is now looking incredibly comfortable dishing the ball to the talented duo of graduate transfers.

Russ Rose discussed Blossom’s impact on the team and how she’s grown as a player during one of his weekly press conferences earlier this season, saying her consistency shines through in multiple ways.

“There are certain things about Gabby that have always been really consistent,” Rose said. “She’s just an incredible competitor and very feisty, and I really appreciate that about her.

“She’s one of the people who goes hard every day no matter what and speaks her mind with the players. To me, that’s part of the Penn State way. I think her game is at a high level. She does all the things you need a setter to do to help your team be competitive.”