No. 18 Penn State women’s volleyball lost to No. 11 Oregon 3-0 (17-25, 21-25, 25-27) Friday night in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon.
The Nittany Lions struggled offensively with 25 attack errors and a .162 hitting percentage against the Ducks, who improved to 6-0 on the season thanks to strong performances from Gloria Mutiri and Georgia Murphy.
Jonni Parker led the Nittany Lions with 10 kills, tying Oregon’s Brooke Nuneviller for the match high, but Parker had a difficult time keeping the ball in play with nine errors in the loss. Allie Holland had Penn State’s most efficient showing of the night with eight kills, zero errors, and a .667 hitting percentage.
Anastasiya Kudryashova put together her best match of the season so far with seven kills off the bench after starting outside hitters Erika Pritchard and Adanna Rollins, who had five kills apiece, were unable to generate much momentum offensively. Rollins joined Jenna Hampton in double figures with 11 digs to Hampton’s 13, however.
Gabby Blossom made an impact in multiple facets of the game with a match-high 33 assists, six kills, five digs, a block, and one of Penn State’s two aces. Maddy Bilinovic and Cassie Kuerschen combined for 10 digs as Penn State’s primary defensive specialists Friday night, while Quinn Menger and Anjelina Starck each saw action in a set. Starck picked up her first collegiate dig and assist against the Ducks. Full stats can be found here.
The Nittany Lions (5-2) return to Matthew Knight Arena Saturday at 7 p.m. ET when they face a familiar foe in No. 14 Stanford to wrap up the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. The Cardinal (3-2) lost to No. 13 Minnesota in four sets earlier in the day on Friday.