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.