No. 15 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to No. 10 Ohio State 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 11-25, 20-25) on senior night Sunday in front of a sold-out Covelli Center crowd of 3,995 in Columbus.
After sweeping the Buckeyes earlier this season in Rec Hall in the second match of Big Ten play, Penn State struggled to contain an Ohio State offense led by Emily Londot, who had a match-high 22 kills. Jonni Parker paced the Nittany Lions with 17 kills in their second loss of the weekend.
Ohio State graciously took the time to honor Penn State’s nine seniors before the match, giving them each a bouquet of flowers. Senior defensive specialist Hannah Gruensfelder, who was high school and club teammates with Gabby Blossom, led the Buckeyes with 19 digs. Blossom had a double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs, but Mac Podraza outdueled her with 49 assists and 14 digs in Ohio State’s 23rd win of the season.
Adanna Rollins was Penn State’s most efficient performer on offense with 10 kills and a .364 hitting percentage. She added seven digs and Penn State’s only service ace of the evening. Ohio State managed only two aces of its own, so tough serving was hard to come by for both teams. Penn State hit .123 to Ohio State’s .243.
The Nittany Lions (19-9, 12-6 Big Ten) return to Rec Hall for the final weekend of the regular season when they host No. 9 Minnesota at 8 p.m. Friday on the Big Ten Network and Iowa Saturday at 7 p.m. After recording a team-high 17 digs, Jenna Hampton now sits just four digs away from reaching 1,000 for her career — a feat she will likely accomplish early in Friday’s match against the Golden Gophers.