Penn State Volleyball Sweeps St. John’s

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 12 Penn State women’s volleyball swept St. John’s 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-9) Friday afternoon in the second leg of its doubleheader to open the season at the UCF Challenge in Orlando, Florida.

After losing to No. 24 Georgia Tech 3-1 earlier this morning, the Nittany Lions looked much better against the Red Storm, relying on strong showings across the board from their veteran players.

Jonni Parker and Kaitlyn Hord led the way with nine kills apiece, while Adanna Rollins showed off her impressive passing with a match-high 11 digs. Penn State hit .338 and outblocked St. John’s 13-5 in the win.

At times during the match, Russ Rose interestingly tried out a 6-2 system with Parker and Gabby Blossom, who had 26 assists, six digs, and a match-high four aces. Rose often ran a 6-2 several seasons ago with Bryanna Weiskircher and Abby Detering.

Hord and fellow middle blocker Allie Holland were both extremely efficient Friday, surrendering only four attack errors in 60 combined swings between the St. John’s and Georgia Tech matches. Hord finished with 20 kills and Holland had 10. TCU transfer Katie Clark made her Penn State debut against the Red Storm and tallied her first kill and block for the Nittany Lions.

Erika Pritchard had seven kills in both of Friday’s matches, but put together a steadier performance against St. John’s with a .400 hitting percentage, three digs, three blocks, and an assist. Pritchard and Parker tied for the most swings on the team with 48 apiece in the doubleheader.

Jenna Hampton and Maddy Bilinovic combined for eight digs in a backcourt rotation that also featured senior Keatan Broughton and freshman Cassie Kuerschen. The Nittany Lions kept the same starting lineup as this morning and had 14 players check into the match.

The Nittany Lions (1-1) are back in action Saturday when they play tournament host UCF on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Box Score

Match Details

St. John’s (NY) Penn St.
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 11 12 34 -0.029 9 0 20 0.450
2 14 8 39 0.154 14 6 37 0.216
3 6 6 25 0.000 12 1 21 0.524
Total 31 26 98 0.051 35 7 78 0.359
St. John’s (NY) Penn St.
Points 37 57
Kills 31 35
Aces 1 7
Blocks 5 15
Assists 27 31
Digs 32 34

Match Leaders

St. John’s (NY) – Leaders
Kills Efrosini Alexakou (10), Eleonora Tosi (6), Giorgia Walther (5)
Aces Efrosini Alexakou (1)
Blocks Eleonora Tosi (3), Ariadni Kathariou (2), Wiktoria Kowalczyk (1), Tiziana Baumrukova (1), Efrosini Alexakou (1), Rachele Rastelli (1)
Assists Tiziana Baumrukova (24), Wiktoria Kowalczyk (1), Iliana Rodriguez (1), Ariadni Kathariou (1)
Digs Efrosini Alexakou (9), Iliana Rodriguez (7), Giorgia Walther (6)
Penn State – Leaders
Kills Kaitlyn Hord (9), Jonni Parker (9), Erika Pritchard (7)
Aces Gabby Blossom (4), Allie Holland (2), Adanna Rollins (1)
Blocks Kaitlyn Hord (10), Allie Holland (5), Jonni Parker (4)
Assists Gabby Blossom (26), Jonni Parker (3), Jenna Hampton (1), Erika Pritchard (1)
Digs Adanna Rollins (11), Jenna Hampton (6), Gabby Blossom (6)

Penn State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
23 Kaitlyn Hord 3 9 2 17 0.412 0 0 0 0 1 9 0 0 0 0 14.5
9 Jonni Parker 3 9 1 17 0.471 3 0 0 2 0 4 0 4 0 0 11
20 Allie Holland 3 4 0 8 0.500 0 0 2 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 9
5 Erika Pritchard 3 7 1 15 0.400 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 0 8.5
1 Adanna Rollins 3 4 1 11 0.273 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 11 0 1 6
13 Gabby Blossom 3 0 0 0 0.000 26 0 4 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 4
18 Anastasiya Kudryashova 2 1 0 3 0.333 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
11 Katie Clark 1 1 0 3 0.333 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.5
0 Annie Cate Fitzpatrick 1 0 2 4 -0.500 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0.5
15 Jenna Hampton 3 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
2 Maddy Bilinovic 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
3 Keatan Broughton 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Cassie Kuerschen 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 35 7 78 0.359 31 1 7 5 2 26 0 34 0 1 57

St. John’s Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
6 Efrosini Alexakou 3 10 12 34 -0.059 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 9 0 1 11.5
5 Eleonora Tosi 3 6 3 13 0.231 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 8
12 Giorgia Walther 3 5 5 14 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 3 5
18 Rachele Rastelli 3 4 6 21 -0.095 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 4 0 0 4.5
19 Ariadni Kathariou 3 3 0 12 0.250 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
11 Tiziana Baumrukova 3 2 0 3 0.667 24 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 2.5
7 Wiktoria Kowalczyk 2 1 0 1 1.000 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.5
1 Sheena Yoshioka 3 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
2 Iliana Rodriguez 3 0 0 0 0.000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1 0
9 Angela Crosetti 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 31 26 98 0.051 27 1 1 6 1 8 0 32 0 6 37
Box Score