No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball beat Rutgers 3-1 (25-17, 25-10, 22-25, 25-18) Friday night at Rec Hall in the program’s annual Dig Pink match.

Kaitlyn Hord and Jenna Hampton led the Nittany Lions to victory with outstanding performances against the Scarlet Knights, who lost to Penn State in straight sets earlier this season on September 24 in Piscataway. Hord hit .667 and had a match-high 16 kills with zero attack errors, while Hampton tallied a match-high 21 digs, five assists, and two of Penn State’s seven aces.

Senior setter Gabby Blossom also had an excellent night for the Nittany Lions, tallying 42 assists and a career-high 20 digs in the win. Emily Oerther entered the match for Blossom with Penn State leading 7-6 in the third set and finished with four assists. Jonni Parker (12 kills, six assists, six digs, four blocks) also set for several points when Katie Clark came off the bench. Clark was efficient with three kills on four swings.

Rutgers snapped a 51-set losing streak to the Nittany Lions when it prevailed in the third set to extend the match. Penn State hit .400 in a dominant second set, but ended with a .241 clip after cooling down in the third frame. The Scarlet Knights fell to 8-10 and have yet to pick up their first Big Ten win of the season at 0-7. Inna Balyko and Beka Kojadinovic had strong showings for Rutgers.

Freshman outside hitter Anjelina Starck made her second straight start and had eight digs and two kills, while Adanna Rollins recorded 15 kills and 14 digs. Rollins struggled a bit to keep the ball in play with a team-high nine attack errors. Allie Holland and Anastasiya Kudryashova had seven kills apiece and both hit above .300.

The Nittany Lions (13-4, 6-1 Big Ten) hit the road for a big match in West Lafayette against No. 6 Purdue Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2. The Boilermakers (13-3, 5-2 Big Ten) lost to No. 7 Ohio State in four sets in Columbus earlier tonight.

Russ Rose’s opening statement:

“On a positive note, I would say I really liked how Jenna and Kait played. I thought they played really well. I thought Gabby’s defense was much improved, but past that, I would say we started out okay and then got progressively worse. Pretty disappointing from the position I’m sitting in.”

Jenna, how would you assess Kait’s performance tonight? What did she do particularly well?

“I think Kaitlyn played really well offensively and defensively. I think she really took advantage of having that one-on-one block and putting balls away.”

For Jenna and Kaitlyn, what went wrong in the third set and how did you bounce back?

Hampton: “I think we just let the little things get to us and we weren’t really playing together. We were playing a little selfishly, all of us. We just need to get back in the gym and work on some things.”

Hord: “Yeah, we just got complacent and let their energy overtake ours and we stopped playing Penn State volleyball.”

After dropping that third set, coach, what are you telling the team to help them respond going into the fourth?

“Sometimes, when you’re coaching and you say things, they’re helpful, and other times, they’re not helpful. I’m not sure I was saying anything that was necessarily helpful. I think somebody has to tell the truth, so I was pretty committed to saying what was going on and what it looked like and what the statistics were identifying. I thought these two played really well. I thought the other outside hitters had a hard night, had a very tough night. Adanna, Jonni, and Anjelina all struggled. It’s part of the game. If it’s not really important to you, you put out performances that are disappointing. The upside is, the players I think were thrilled that they won, or something like that.”

What was the team doing well in the second set?

Hord: “That was a long time ago. Sorry, I kind of blanked on that second set after we lost that third one. I think we just came out and were very aggressive in our attacking. Not so much in the third. Like I said, we got complacent and just were kind of keeping balls in, whereas in the second set we were attacking to score, so that’s something we did well.”

Rose: “We hit .400 in the second game. We had 17 kills and three errors, so we controlled the ball well and played with confidence. The third game, we weren’t sharp. The other team, you have to respect the other team. Their right-side player is a terrific talent and can score against everyone. If you don’t value what you’re doing on your side of the net and you keep giving them the ball, eventually they’re going to take a big swing and it’s going to rattle through or it’s going to be a pure kill. The third game, we hit .130. You’re not going to win a lot of matches hitting .130.”

Kait, what are your favorite things about playing with Jenna?

“She’s always got that smile on her face. Jenna and I have a lot of classes together, so we spend a lot of time together. I know if I struggle, I just look at her and she has that positive energy around her. And, of course, she’s a monster in the defensive position. I can count on her when our block is a little shaky to just go out there and dig and pass and serve. She’s got it all.”

You dropped your first set to Rutgers in 20 years. Does that affect you at all? How important is winning in straight sets to this team?

“Well, I mean, to them, it doesn’t mean anything, because a lot of them weren’t alive 20 years ago. We don’t say, ‘Gee, it was disappointing.’ That would be really disrespectful to the other teams. I wouldn’t be in favor of ever talking like that. I would never say, ‘Hey, we should beat somebody 3-0,’ because I just don’t think that’s respectful of the sport and the opponents. Rutgers won the third game because they made fewer errors than we made. A lot of times, you’re in the right place at the right time. They played well. They have kids who care, and it was reflected in the fourth game as well. They were battling in the fourth game. We were good early and they were better late.”

For the players, what was it like playing in the Dig Pink match tonight? What does that mean to you?

Hord: “It means a lot to me, because my mom had breast cancer, so tonight was just dedicated to her and, of course, Lori Rose. That was my motivation behind tonight.”

Hampton: “Like Kait said, this is one of my favorite games, and it’s for such a good cause. I love seeing people come out.”