Penn State squandered a first-set win against UCLA, dropping the last three sets for a 1-3 loss to the Bruins (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 23-25) in the Sunday Matinee at Rec Hall. Kennedy Martin set a new career-high with 34 kills.
To be fair, the match wasn’t a blowout — Sets 3 and 4 were both deuce sets, with both teams having opportunities to win the sets. But UCLA was the team that won both of them, and the match. And there were bright spots. As mentioned at the top, Kennedy Martin continues to shine, averaging 5.96 points/set, 5.23 kills/set (with a .315 hitting percentage), and adding .86 blocks/set and 2.21 digs/set. Emmi Sellman has been up and down, but did total 11 kills and 12 digs, for a second-consecutive double-double.
Gillian Grimes scooped up a team-high 18 digs. Maggie Mendelson totaled 5 blocks and 5 kills. Addie Lyon tied UCLA’s Kate Duffey with 47, and also chipped in with 8 digs.
Now 1-1 in the Big Ten, and 7-5 overall, Penn State will need to regroup and refocus, as their next opponent is #1-ranked Nebraska on Friday, October 3rd in Rec Hall. Kennedy Martin posted a match-high 35.5 points, with a career-high 34 kills (.403 hitting percentage), 3 blocks, and 9 digs.
UCLA’s Cheridyn Leverette recorded 20 kills, and Eliana Urzua had 16 kills and 14 digs. Lola Schumacher had a match-high 24 digs.
Post-Match Press Conference
Coach Katie, Kennedy Martin, and Gillian Grimes took questions from the press after the match. The questions and their answers are below, edited for length and clarity:
Opening Statement by Coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley
Well, that’s a Big 10 match for you. Everyone, everyone in this conference is really good. I thought we did some good things. And in the first, and third, and fourth [sets], we fought back a few times. A couple unforced errors. We need to clean that up and be better with the little things. I didn’t think we were very sharp at the net blocking, and we need to get back to work.
Question: Kennedy, you had over 34 kills. You hit over .400. What was working for you today?
Kennedy Martin: I feel like the setters just kept putting me in a really good spot — Addie and then the non-setters too. I felt like I could see what was in front of me pretty well. And then, [after] any adjustments that they were making, I felt like I was still put in a good spot to where I could try to do something else.
Question: Coach, we know this was your THON match. What does THON mean to you and your team?
KSC: THON is really special, and I’m so proud of Penn State and the students for what they do with THON. Hopefully people can contribute to giving money and helping out. I know there are a couple THON families here and really special people, and I pray for those kids that they get better.
Question: Coach, Caroline was not in the starting lineup today, but she was able to get in. And how does this game kind of help her confidence?
KSC: We need to find some more points somewhere on the pin. I think CJ struggled on Friday night, and so we switched. And, Lex came in and did some nice things. We needed to keep mixing it up a little bit, and we need to get our left side scoring a little bit more.
Question: Coach with Alexis being in the game for the first few minutes of the [first] set, how have you seen her improve these first nine matches?
KSC: I think she’s gotten so much better since preseason, since August, and she’ll continue to do some different shots and learn some new things. She really adjusts well and wants to get better. So, slowly, it’s happening, and we need to push her along a little bit faster.
Question: What have you guys learned in your first two Big 10 matches that you’ll take into practice over the next week?
Gillian Grimes: I think the Big 10 is really tough. Everyone kind of wants to see us lose or Penn State lose, but we’ve got to be able to punch back. So I think going into practice, we just kind of have to be able to focus on things that we know we need to do better next match.
Question: Coach, next matchup is the massive one against Nebraska. How does this matchup stack up against some of the other biggest ones you’ve had in your career so far.
KSC: Tell you what, they’re all massive for me. The Big 10 matches, every single one. I know it’s Nebraska. I think every match is important and has the same value, and we need to understand that. Like I said, it’s really hard to win in this conference. And there’s short windows of time when you can score points and close out a set, and you have to be able to do that. So there’s things that we need to work on and be better. But they’re all big matches, and we’re excited to move on to the next, but learn, learn from this one and start preparing.
Question: Coach. Looking forward to Nebraska, are there any strategies or changes that you’re looking forward to implementing?
KSC: I think in your own gym you have to be really aggressive. I don’t think we were really aggressive today. I think that our serve pass game, that’s something that we talk about all the time. I think we can serve a lot tougher and get players off the net and just be aggressive and let loose a little bit. I think we got a little tight when [UCLA scored] a couple strings of points, and we can’t do that. So the strategy will be, get back to practice and start working on the little things and being better. You can’t lose a match on a on a tipped ball.
Question: Coach, Emmi Sellman posted back-to-back double doubles in these past two games. Can you speak a little bit about her and what been the key to her consistency recently?
KSC: Emmi takes on a lot. She’s playing six rotations, like Kennedy, and when she can score, it really helps. I thought her passing was good today. And she’ll continue to get better as well. I thought maybe Friday’s match was a little bit better for her. But we gotta find some other people that can score too. But yeah, back-to-back double doubles is playing back row, and she needs to dig balls, and I think she’s gotten a lot better at that.
Question: Gill, what impressed you about Leverette and Schumacher today?
Gillian Grimes: They came to play, and honestly, we kind of just need to punch back in that sense. But I think they both had good matches in front of our crowd on Sunday afternoon.