No. 13 Penn State women’s volleyball swept Illinois (25-22, 25-22, 25-19) Sunday afternoon in the program’s throwback match, which saw the Nittany Lions debut black and pink uniforms honoring the university’s original colors.
Kash Williams led the Nittany Lions (14-3, 3-3 Big Ten) with a match-high 15 kills in the win, while freshman outside hitter Alexa Markley set a new career best with 10 kills. Markley took the second-most swings on the team (20) and finished with a .350 hitting percentage.
Junior middle blocker Allie Holland was extremely efficient against the Illini, tallying eight kills (.727), zero attack errors, five blocks, three digs, and one of Penn State’s three service aces. Setter Leisa Elisaia had 35 assists, a season-high six kills, six digs, and a block.
The Nittany Lions hit .231 as team, due in large part to a somewhat slow start offensively, but they soon sorted things out and hit .294 and .343 in the second and third sets, respectively. Katie Clark came off the bench and performed well at right-side hitter with four kills (.429) and a block following a right-ankle injury to Zoe Weatherington, who did not return to the match.
Maddy Bilinovic and Anjelina Starck paced Penn State’s defense with 12 and 11 digs, respectively, while Gillian Grimes and Cassie Kuerschen recorded six digs apiece. Despite being outblocked by Illinois 10-7, the Nittany Lions appeared in control of the match throughout and got back in the win column to reach .500 in conference play.
The Nittany Lions will hit the road for three straight matches against Nebraska, Iowa, and Maryland before returning to Rec Hall on October 23 against Rutgers. Penn State’s match against the Huskers next Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s opening statement:
“As always, thanks for coming. We appreciate the love you guys always give us. We really do. I’m proud of the team. They competed hard. I thought we did some nice things. It was nice to see Alexa taking some big swings for us. Katie Clark came in. I thought Maddy held her own here serving, passing, and playing defense. It was a great team win. Illinois is a great team. They’re going to get their wins. We’re happy to have won at home.”
Coach, what impressed you about the play of Maddy and the back row today?
KSC: “Maddy does her thing. I’m always impressed. I think they were a real aggressive serving team. I thought Maddy and all the passers held their own back there, but I think, defensively, she’s gotten better and is being patient with herself and the rest of the group, and finding ways to dig balls.”
Alexa, you had a career-high 10 kills. What was that like for you?
Markley: “It was pretty cool, especially looking up at the board and seeing double digits. That was exciting, for sure.”
Maddy, what are some things that stand out about Alexa’s play?
Bilinovic: “I think Alexa, every time she comes in, she brings great energy. I think that’s a big help, especially in the Big Ten, especially when the crowd is loud. And we’re going to have that every single night. So her coming in with that spark of energy makes a big difference.”
I wanted to ask you about Zoe Weatherington. Is she okay?
KSC: “Yeah, Zoe, she’ll be great. She’ll be good. She needed a little breather there. Katie Clark came in and did a heck of a job.”
What are some things you thought Katie did well today?
KSC: “She came in and scored right away. She came in, got some block touches, scored. I think I’ve said this to you guys before. I’m happy for everyone who’s doing well. We talk about this in practice all the time, and I just told the team, ‘You never know.’ The ones who aren’t playing right now, shoot, their time might come next weekend. So they need to be ready to go and have a great week of practice.”
You guys stayed resilient in a lot of long rallies today. How important is it to pick up points in long rallies to gain momentum?
Bilinovic: “I think the long rallies, communication is a big part of that. At times in the past, we’ve struggled with the long rallies and always talking to each other. I think today showed that our hard work outside of game day has been paying off.”
Markley: “Yeah, that was one thing the last couple games we’ve talked about, for sure, winning those long rallies. I think we did a good job of that today.”
Katie, what did you and your teammates think of the new uniforms today?
Clark: “I like the black and pink and stuff like that, but it’s really cool to be able to go back to the original colors and celebrate that today.”
Katie, it seemed like everybody, including yourself, was making big contributions today. How important is that all-17-player mentality going to be through conference play?
Clark: “I think it’s really important. Coach Katie says it all the time. It’s going to take all 17 of us to be able to come out with a win, so it’s just really exciting to see everybody come in and you know that they’re going to do their job.”
Alexa, what are some things you’ve learned from your older teammates?
Markley: “Oh, I’ve learned so much from them. You just watch them, what they do in games and practice, and you just try to mimic them, because obviously, they’re so good. Just also team culture. There are so many little things I didn’t even know existed before coming here, so it was really cool.”
Going off of that, Alexa, to come in today against a really competitive Illinois team and set a career high in kills, how much confidence does that give you now going forward the rest of the season?
Markley: “Yeah, it for sure gives me confidence, but I’m always working harder.”
Maddy, what did you think of Allie’s pancake? Did you teach her that?
Bilinovic: “That was pretty sick. It’s also funny. Allie’s getting thrown in every position in the back row, and she goes right back and gets a pancake. I’m like, ‘Do you want the shirt, Allie?'”