Penn State Volleyball Beats Iowa State, Troy In Doubleheader

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 21 Penn State women’s volleyball beat Iowa State and Troy in a Friday doubleheader at LSU’s Tiger Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

3-1 Win Over Iowa State Cyclones

Zoe Weatherington led the Nittany Lions to a 3-1 win (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15) over the Cyclones, tallying a match-high 15 kills while hitting .500 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Weatherington has been Penn State’s most consistent attacker early in the season.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, native was among four Penn State players with double-digit kills, joining Kash Williams (13), Anjelina Starck (12), and Katie Clark (11), who made her first start for the Nittany Lions in Allie Holland’s absence. Holland did not make the trip.

The Nittany Lions wore black warmup shirts that said “We Are” on the front to show support for Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who was the target of racial slurs by a BYU fan at a recent match in Provo, Utah. Many college volleyball teams wore black Friday to show solidarity with Richardson and speak out against racism.

Leisa Elisaia’s season-high 49 assists helped Penn State hit .310 as a team, while libero Maddy Bilinovic continued her strong play with 13 digs, three assists, and two aces in the win. The Nittany Lions outblocked Iowa State 9-3 and the two teams tied with five aces apiece.

Defensive specialists Gillian Grimes and Cassie Kuerschen each had seven digs against the Cyclones, while freshman Mandi Morioka made her Penn State debut, meaning all eight of the program’s newcomers have now checked into at least one match so far this season.

Box Score – Iowa State

Match Details

Penn St. Iowa St.
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 13 2 35 0.314 15 8 43 0.163
2 17 4 35 0.371 17 1 32 0.500
3 14 8 34 0.176 13 8 32 0.156
4 14 4 25 0.400 8 5 27 0.111
Total 58 18 129 0.310 53 22 134 0.231
Penn St. Iowa St.
Points 72 61
Kills 58 53
Aces 5 5
Blocks 9 3
Assists 55 48
Digs 42 40

Match Leaders

Penn St. – Leaders
Kills Zoe Weatherington (15), Kashauna Williams (13), Anjelina Starck (12)
Aces Anjelina Starck (2), Maddy Bilinovic (2), Seleisa Elisaia (1)
Blocks Taylor Trammell (5), Katie Clark (4), Kashauna Williams (4)
Assists Seleisa Elisaia (49), Maddy Bilinovic (3), Gillian Grimes (1), Cassie Kuerschen (1), Anjelina Starck (1)
Digs Maddy Bilinovic (13), Gillian Grimes (7), Cassie Kuerschen (7), Seleisa Elisaia (7)
Iowa St. – Leaders
Kills Mariah Mitchell (13), Jordan Hopp (12), Eleanor Holthaus (12)
Aces Jaden Newsome (2), Paula Krzeslak (1), Brooke Stonestreet (1), Jordan Hopp (1)
Blocks Jordan Hopp (2), Solei Thomas (2), Alexis Engelbrecht (1), Eleanor Holthaus (1)
Assists Jaden Newsome (40), Brooke Stonestreet (3), Kate Shannon (3)
Digs Brooke Stonestreet (14), Jaden Newsome (12), Paula Krzeslak (6)

Penn State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
17 Zoe Weatherington 4 15 4 22 0.500 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 16
23 Kashauna Williams 4 13 9 34 0.118 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 2 0 1 15
10 Anjelina Starck 4 12 3 34 0.265 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 14.5
11 Katie Clark 4 11 2 22 0.409 0 0 0 3 1 3 0 2 0 0 13.5
1 Taylor Trammell 4 5 0 11 0.455 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 8
5 Seleisa Elisaia 4 2 0 4 0.500 49 1 1 1 0 0 0 7 0 1 3
2 Maddy Bilinovic 4 0 0 2 0.000 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 2
12 Cassie Kuerschen 4 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
24 Quinn Menger 2 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Gillian Grimes 4 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
Total 58 18 129 0.31 55 2 5 6 2 14 2 42 0 2 72

Iowa State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
4 Jordan Hopp 4 12 3 22 0.409 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 14
20 Mariah Mitchell 4 13 4 25 0.360 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13
6 Eleanor Holthaus 4 12 9 44 0.068 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 2 12.5
14 Solei Thomas 4 5 1 17 0.235 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6
3 Jaden Newsome 4 4 0 7 0.571 40 1 2 2 0 0 0 12 1 0 6
21 Paula Krzeslak 4 2 0 2 1.000 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 6 0 1 3
12 Alexis Engelbrecht 3 2 4 10 -0.200 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.5
8 Brooke Stonestreet 4 1 0 2 0.500 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 14 0 1 2
11 Allie Petry 4 1 0 1 1.000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 1
18 Kelsey Perry 1 1 1 3 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 Kate Shannon 4 0 0 0 0.000 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
16 Abby Greiman 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Kiersten Schmitt 1 0 0 1 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 Faith DeRonde 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 53 22 134 0.231 48 2 5 9 0 6 2 40 1 5 61

Box Score

Lions Down Troy 3-0

In the second match of the day, Penn State (5-0) kept the same starting lineup of Weatherington, Elisaia, Bilinovic, Starck, Clark, Grimes, and Taylor Trammell, who had another efficient outing against the Troy Trojans, after posting five kills and five blocks (with no attack errors) against Iowa State. Trammell finished with nine kills (.538) and four blocks for a sweep in match two —  (25-18, 25-21, 25-16).

Weatherington again led the Nittany Lions to victory with 11 kills, four blocks, and only one attack error on a team-high 21 swings against the Trojans. Starck finished just behind her with 10 kills of her own, while Grimes had a career-high nine digs in the win and three consecutive aces early in the first set. Penn State hit .326 and outblocked Troy 8-4.

Sophomore Erika Williams made her Penn State debut against the Trojans and picked up the first four kills and two blocks of her collegiate career. Williams will have the chance to play against her older sister, Alia, Saturday afternoon when the Nittany Lions face tournament host LSU at 4 p.m.

Box Score – Troy

Match Details

Troy Penn St.
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 11 3 25 0.320 16 6 31 0.323
2 12 4 37 0.216 19 7 37 0.324
3 9 7 29 0.069 13 5 24 0.333
Total 32 14 91 0.198 48 18 92 0.326
Troy Penn St.
Points 38 62
Kills 32 48
Aces 2 6
Blocks 4 8
Assists 31 44
Digs 23 34

Match Leaders

Troy – Leaders
Kills Halston Hillier (10), Tori Hester (9), Amiah Butler (7)
Aces Amara Anderson (2)
Blocks Amiah Butler (3), Savannah Poling (3), Julia Brooks (1), Amara Anderson (1)
Assists Amara Anderson (30), Caroline Darracott (1)
Digs Caroline Darracott (6), Isabella Mitchell (6), Amara Anderson (4)
Penn St. – Leaders
Kills Zoe Weatherington (11), Anjelina Starck (10), Taylor Trammell (9)
Aces Gillian Grimes (3), Cassie Kuerschen (1), Maddy Bilinovic (1), Seleisa Elisaia (1)
Blocks Taylor Trammell (4), Zoe Weatherington (4), Seleisa Elisaia (3)
Assists Seleisa Elisaia (35), Maddy Bilinovic (6), Anjelina Starck (1), Taylor Trammell (1), Zoe Weatherington (1)
Digs Maddy Bilinovic (10), Gillian Grimes (9), Seleisa Elisaia (6)

Penn State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
17 Zoe Weatherington 3 11 1 21 0.476 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 13
1 Taylor Trammell 3 9 2 13 0.538 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 11
10 Anjelina Starck 3 10 2 17 0.471 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 10
5 Seleisa Elisaia 3 4 2 7 0.286 35 0 1 0 0 3 0 6 1 0 6.5
23 Kashauna Williams 3 6 3 14 0.214 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 6.5
8 Erika Williams 2 4 5 10 -0.100 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 5
18 Anastasiya Kudryashova 1 3 1 6 0.333 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
3 Gillian Grimes 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 3
11 Katie Clark 1 1 2 4 -0.250 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
2 Maddy Bilinovic 3 0 0 0 0.000 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 1
12 Cassie Kuerschen 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
24 Quinn Menger 2 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 48 18 92 0.326 44 0 6 2 0 16 1 34 1 1 62

Troy Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
18 Halston Hillier 3 10 5 23 0.217 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 10
10 Tori Hester 3 9 9 26 0.000 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 9
1 Amiah Butler 3 7 0 25 0.280 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 8.5
12 Savannah Poling 3 4 0 5 0.800 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 5.5
6 Amara Anderson 3 0 0 3 0.000 30 0 2 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 2.5
7 Julia Brooks 3 2 0 9 0.222 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 2.5
14 Isabella Mitchell 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 0
4 Ashley Guenveur 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Caroline Darracott 3 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 2 0
2 Jaci Mesa 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
17 Sara Bates 2 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 32 14 91 0.198 31 0 2 7 0 8 0 23 0 5 38

Box Score