Penn State Volleyball Swept By Nebraska

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

No. 14 Penn State women’s volleyball was swept by No. 3 Nebraska (18-25, 22-25, 9-25) Friday night at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.

Sophomore defensive specialist Cassie Kuerschen led the Nittany Lions (14-4, 3-4 Big Ten) defensively with a career-high 17 digs in the loss, while Katie Clark also came off the bench and paced Penn State’s offense with seven kills.

Fifth-year senior setter Nicklin Hames returned to the starting lineup for the Cornhuskers after sitting out the last month of the season due to injury. Hames had 20 assists and eight digs while running a modified 6-2 offense with fellow setter Anni Evans. Leisa Elisaia had 24 assists and eight digs.

Former Penn State All-American Kaitlyn Hord, who transferred to Nebraska for her final season of eligibility, finished with a match-high nine blocks to help the Huskers take a 16-4 advantage over Penn State in that stat category. An announced crowd of 8,247 was on hand.

The Nittany Lions didn’t record an ace all night and hit .017 as a team. Nebraska had two aces and hit .208, but Hord was held to just two kills. Madi Kubik led the way with nine. Nebraska libero Lexi Rodriguez had 16 digs.

Alexa Markley, Allie Holland, and Kash Williams had five kills apiece, but Markley and Williams hit negative and Holland finished at .091 despite typically being among the Big Ten’s most efficient middle blockers. Markley, who was one of five substitutes for Penn State, took the most swings on the team with 28 — six more than Holland.

Taylor Trammell had Penn State’s best hitting percentage at .286 with four kills. Maddy Bilinovic (12) and Gillian Grimes (10) joined Kuerschen in double figures for digs. Penn State barely edged out Nebraska 52-51 in digs.

Nebraska now holds a 26-11 lead in the all-time series against Penn State. The Nittany Lions haven’t beaten the Huskers since a four-set win on November 30, 2013 in Lincoln.

The Nittany Lions will have to regroup quickly before Saturday’s road match against Iowa (7-11, 1-6 Big Ten) at 8 p.m. ET. The Hawkeyes were swept by No. 5 Wisconsin Friday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

Box Score

Match Details

Penn St. Nebraska
Set K E TA % K E TA %
1 9 8 39 0.026 12 5 39 0.179
2 12 9 41 0.073 10 5 37 0.135
3 6 8 40 -0.050 12 2 30 0.333
Total 27 25 120 0.017 34 12 106 0.208
Penn St. Nebraska
Points 31 52
Kills 27 34
Aces 0 2
Blocks 4 16
Assists 26 28
Digs 52 51

Match Leaders

Penn St. – Leaders
Kills Katie Clark (7), Alexa Markley (5), Allie Holland (5), Kashauna Williams (5)
Aces
Blocks Allie Holland (2), Taylor Trammell (2), Alexa Markley (1), Zoe Weatherington (1), Katie Clark (1)
Assists Seleisa Elisaia (24), Cassie Kuerschen (1), Maddy Bilinovic (1)
Digs Cassie Kuerschen (17), Maddy Bilinovic (12), Gillian Grimes (10)
Nebraska – Leaders
Kills Madi Kubik (9), Whitney Lauenstein (7), Bekka Allick (6)
Aces Bekka Allick (1), Whitney Lauenstein (1)
Blocks Kaitlyn Hord (9), Whitney Lauenstein (8), Bekka Allick (6)
Assists Nicklin Hames (20), Anni Evans (6), Lexi Rodriguez (2)
Digs Lexi Rodriguez (16), Nicklin Hames (8), Kenzie Knuckles (7)

Penn State Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
11 Katie Clark 3 7 4 15 0.200 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 7.5
20 Allie Holland 3 5 3 22 0.091 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 6
1 Taylor Trammell 3 4 0 14 0.286 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5.5
19 Alexa Markley 3 5 6 28 -0.036 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 5.5
23 Kashauna Williams 3 5 7 14 -0.143 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5
17 Zoe Weatherington 2 1 2 7 -0.143 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.5
5 Seleisa Elisaia 3 0 1 8 -0.125 24 1 0 2 0 0 0 8 3 0 0
2 Maddy Bilinovic 3 0 0 1 0.000 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 12 0 0 0
18 Anastasiya Kudryashova 1 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Anjelina Starck 3 0 1 8 -0.125 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
12 Cassie Kuerschen 3 0 0 1 0.000 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 17 0 0 0
3 Gillian Grimes 3 0 0 1 0.000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 0 1 0
Total 27 25 120 0.017 26 1 0 10 1 6 1 52 3 2 31

Nebraska Stats

# Player SP K E TA % A E SA SE BS BA BE DIG BHE RE Pts
13 Whitney Lauenstein 3 7 2 25 0.200 0 0 1 3 0 8 0 5 0 0 12
10 Madi Kubik 3 9 4 30 0.167 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 5 0 0 10.5
5 Bekka Allick 3 6 1 13 0.385 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 1 0 0 10
23 Kaitlyn Hord 3 2 0 10 0.200 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 1 0 0 6.5
14 Ally Batenhorst 3 5 3 13 0.154 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 6.5
22 Lindsay Krause 3 4 0 10 0.400 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 5.5
2 Kenzie Knuckles 3 1 0 2 0.500 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 7 0 0 1
1 Nicklin Hames 3 0 2 3 -0.667 20 1 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
4 Anni Evans 3 0 0 0 0.000 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
8 Lexi Rodriguez 3 0 0 0 0.000 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 16 0 0 0
7 Maisie Boesiger 1 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 34 12 106 0.208 28 1 2 9 1 30 0 51 0 0 52

Box Score