No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to No. 10 Nebraska 3-1 (16-25, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25) Friday night in front of a White Out crowd of 4,205 at Rec Hall.
Kaitlyn Hord and Jonni Parker led the Nittany Lions with 11 kills apiece in the loss, while freshman outside hitter Anjelina Starck came off the bench and played her best match of the season with eight kills and seven digs.
Madi Kubik and Ally Batenhorst turned in impressive showings for the Huskers, who improved to 5-0 in Big Ten play and now sit atop the conference standings. Kubik and Batenhorst finished with 19 and 15 kills, respectively. Nicklin Hames had a match-high 49 assists and 12 digs.
Katie Clark and AC Fitzpatrick came off the bench and provided a spark for the Nittany Lions, who deployed Parker at setter for a stretch late in the match when Clark was on the court. Russ Rose experimented with a similar type of substitution earlier in the season.
There were 23 tie scores and nine lead changes during the second and third sets combined, but the Huskers prevailed thanks to some timely points in crucial situations down the stretch. Penn State also struggled at the service line with only one ace from freshman defensive specialist Quinn Menger and nine errors.
The Nittany Lions (11-4, 4-1 Big Ten) return to Rec Hall Saturday at 7 p.m. when they face Northwestern (7-9, 2-3 Big Ten), which beat Maryland in five sets Friday in College Park after nearly beating Minnesota in Evanston last weekend.
Rose’s opening statement:
“I’m disappointed that we wasted a great opportunity to play well, but I attribute that to the fact that I thought Nebraska was far more physical and far better prepared to play tonight than we were. I thought that the fact that I had to take two or three starters out because they weren’t ready to play and weren’t playing at a high enough level is a reflection of some of the things that I see in practice. The only shiny light that I saw today was Anjelina came in and I thought she played really well with the skill set that she has and competed hard and made some really nice plays for a person who hasn’t played very much. To play in a big match like that with a big crowd, I thought she would be the reason that she’s here.”
Anjelina, what were some of the most enjoyable parts of getting into the match tonight?
“Just playing in front of the crowd and the fan support. It was just a moment that I’ll never forget, because I remember watching Nebraska play on TV for such a long time, and now being able to play against them, it’s amazing, because you know everybody’s behind you.”
What’s it like to have the support of other Penn State athletic teams here?
Rose: “I think that’s always the case. I think the teams always support the other teams, so it’s nice. It was a great event tonight. There was a nice crowd. The band always makes a great contribution. The student section is great. I thought everything was good except the effort by the staff and the team tonight.”
Anjelina, how have some of your older teammates helped bring you along?
“They make it so much easier to play. They make me feel like I should be out there. After I get a kill, they’ll come up. If I make a mistake, they’ll all come up. It helps me not be as nervous, because I know that they want me to do well and play well.”