No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball fended off a pesky Michigan State squad for a 3-2 win (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 15-13) Saturday night in the program’s second Silent Set match against the Spartans.
Kaitlyn Hord had a career-high 24 kills, topping her previous best of 21 while hitting a blistering .535. Hord also tied Michigan State’s Naya Gros for the match high with six total blocks. Hord has surpassed 20 kills three times this season.
I mean, who else did we expect to close out the match for @PennStateVBALL? 💙 pic.twitter.com/kXaZAFqbCN
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) November 7, 2021
Shortly after announcing her new non-profit organization Chasing Greatness on Thursday, Jonni Parker closed out the match with her 18th kill on an evening recognizing the deaf and hard of hearing community. Parker also had seven digs and three blocks.
A Rec Hall crowd of 4,106 remained silent and cheered using sign language until the Nittany Lions scored their ninth point of the first set, allowing fans to experience the game in a different way while they heard the players communicate. The crowd roared when Penn State drew even at 9-9 following a Michigan State attack error.
Jenna Hampton, who had a match-high 22 digs and eight assists, made several spectacular plays against the Spartans, including an unbelievable dive into a few folding chairs on Penn State’s bench in the fourth set. Gabby Blossom had Penn State’s only double-double of the night with a match-high 57 assists and 13 digs.
Adanna Rollins and Anjelina Starck, who rejoined the starting lineup after a strong performance in Penn State’s 3-1 win over Michigan Friday, tallied 12 kills apiece against the Spartans. Sarah Franklin was phenomenal for Michigan State with a match-high 27 kills (.453) and 10 digs, drawing high praise from Hampton and Russ Rose afterward. Allie Holland had five kills, three blocks, and one of Penn State’s three aces. Rollins had the other two.
The Nittany Lions (17-7, 10-4 Big Ten) return the favor with a trip to Michigan and Michigan State next weekend. Penn State plays the Wolverines Friday at 7 p.m. before traveling to East Lansing to wrap up four straight matches against the Michigan schools.
Post-Match Press Conference
Russ Rose’s opening statement:
“I thought it was a demanding match. Two-and-a-half hours of high-level play. We’re incredibly appreciative of the fans and the student section and the band. I know this was their last matches with us. It was good. I thought that Kait was exceptional offensively. Jenna had two great matches back-to-back this weekend. I was thrilled that they could win the match, especially for as hard as I thought Jenna was playing.”
Jenna, can you take us through that play in the fourth set where you dove into the bench? What was going through your head on that play?
Hampton: “I mean, that’s part of the game. That’s honestly one of my favorite parts of the game are those crazy plays, because it really gets momentum for our team. Those are just my favorite plays. Nothing really going through my mind. I was going all in. I wasn’t stopping there.”
Rose: “There’s one rule on the bench, and that’s move the chair.”
Kaitlyn, what’s it like playing in the Silent Set?
Hord: “Jonni is just an amazing human being and this cause is great, because it’s something that not a lot of people know about, so just bringing awareness to it, whatever we can do to bring awareness to it, it’s just a great feeling to have. I’m really glad to be playing in this match.”
Rose: “And we have a manager who’s also hearing-impaired.”
Jenna, how would you assess Kaitlyn’s performance tonight? What did she do well?
“I think she was setting up a really good block for us. It helped us in the back row be in the right position at the right time. She was also taking some big swings, and I think it helped us win that game.”
For Coach Rose, what makes Jonni Parker special?
“Well, I mean, every box that one would have criteria in, she’s very special. She’s a great teammate, she’s very caring of other people — not just her teammates, but young people who reach out all the time who maybe have a challenge and they find Jonni to be somebody who they can relate to. She’s always available and gives them time. As a player, she always competes really hard. There are times in a match where she starts slow and she’s not playing great, and probably doesn’t like it when I point it out, but, you know, she came back strong. I know she’s always going to compete as hard as she can.”
Jenna, what kind of challenges did Sarah Franklin pose for you guys tonight?
Hampton: “Yeah, Sarah Franklin is a really good player. She hits the ball hard. I think she sees the court well and saw open shots. It kind of took us a little while to adjust to her, but toward the end, I thought we did a better job, especially Kaitlyn, who was paired up with her a lot. She had really good touches on it as well.”
Rose: “I think she’s as good as any outside hitter in the conference. She’s leading the conference in points. If you’re leading the conference in scoring, nobody’s figured out how to stop you. You have to try and get your points at different times. It’s like when we play Wisconsin with [Dana] Rettke, you have two separate scores — one score when she’s in and one score when she’s out. Franklin has the ability to score in the front row and the back row, so she’s really an exceptional talent.”