No. 17 Penn State women’s volleyball swept LSU 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-21) Saturday night to cap an undefeated home-opening weekend at Rec Hall.
Erika Pritchard led the Nittany Lions with a season-high 14 kills in the win, putting together her best performance so far in a Penn State uniform. The University of Maryland alumna appears to be growing more confident with each match she plays alongside her new teammates.
All five of Penn State’s primary offensive options hit over .300 against the Tigers, who fell to 2-3 on the season. The Nittany Lions outblocked LSU 12-6 and limited their service errors to only three Saturday night, which continues a positive trend at the line in the last few matches after a shaky UCF Challenge.
Kaitlyn Hord and Adanna Rollins combined for 15 kills and both hit exactly .316 in the victory. The seniors were extremely efficient against LSU and made the most of their opportunities. Allie Holland added four kills and five total blocks — second only to Hord’s seven.
Senior defensive specialist Sophie Walls made her season debut in the third set, while Jenna Hampton was excellent yet again with a team-high 12 digs and eight assists. Gabby Blossom had another solid night serving with two aces and also contributed 30 assists, nine digs, and a kill. Blossom is distributing the ball particularly well now that she’s had six matches to get comfortable with her new teammates.
Jonni Parker, who had nine kills, eight digs, and four blocks against LSU, was named the MVP of the Penn State Classic and joined Blossom and Hord on the all-tournament team announced afterward. Parker leads the Nittany Lions with 73 kills so far this season. Full stats can be found here.
The Nittany Lions (5-1) head to Eugene, Oregon, next weekend for a highly anticipated Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge against Oregon and Stanford at Matthew Knight Arena. Penn State plays the Ducks Friday at 10 p.m. ET and the Cardinal Saturday at 7 p.m.
Rose’s opening statement:
“I thought it was a good weekend at home. It was good to have fans again. The band and the student section are two great additions to what enhances our sport and our program. As far as tonight’s match, I thought we had great passing from Jenna and Adanna. Erika had a real strong night offensively, as did Kaitlyn. We’re playing better than we played last week, and that’s always the goal of a long season.”
How did you keep your players fresh after playing earlier this morning? How crucial was the bench depth in this match?
“The first part is you tell the players all the time that rest is best. I think when they’re young, they probably don’t really comprehend that, because they want to get as many things in as they can during the day. I’m sure they sat around and watched the football team win [against Wisconsin]. If you don’t get psyched up for the day when you see a victory like that, then you’re missing something as well. I think it’s tough to play two matches. I think different people stepped up in both of the matches today, so that’s an encouraging thing. We’re certainly not a finished product, but I thought we made good progress, so that was good. All of these teams, they’re all good. They all have terrific talent and great coaching. They’re all major universities that support their athletics programs at a very high level.”
Adanna and Erika, what was it about Penn State that made you want to come here and how has your experience been so far?
Pritchard:
“For me, it checked a lot of my boxes. Penn State is just a great university and I wanted to play for a top 10 program. Great staff, great coaching, great culture, the university, obviously, the academics were a big part of why I chose Penn State.”
Rollins:
“I would have to say the history of the program and also the culture of the team really helped me pick my school [after graduating from Minnesota].”
What’s it like playing in Rec Hall?
Pritchard:
“It’s awesome. It’s such an awesome experience. All the fans and the band, it just really gets your adrenaline going. Having that support network behind you is just a really good confidence boost going into a game and sustaining that through the game. It’s just a fun arena to play in.”
Rollins:
“Like she said, it’s a fun environment. It’s very comforting. It just feels so intimate. It feels like everybody is with you every point, so it’s just really cool.”
What were the key parts in defending the front row, getting the blocks up, and then limiting your attack errors?
Rose:
“Well, we only had 10 attacking errors and we outblocked them 12-6, so I think that was probably [it], if one were to look at it from a statistical standpoint. We were way ahead in the first game and the second game was close. In rally scoring, there are just so many different ways that teams can do things. Obviously, [Kylie] Deberg is a terrific talent. She’s on her third university, so she’s had a pretty full array of playing experiences. We had a tough time with her. That will maybe give us some insight into what we need to do when we go next week and play Oregon and Stanford.”
For the players, how have your teammates welcomed you into the program?
Pritchard:
“They’ve welcomed us with open arms. They’re so accepting of us and they’re just great people. It makes a huge difference in terms of culture and what we’re trying to do here. They’ve been so great. They just work hard every day. It’s kind of like, ‘Iron sharpens iron’ in the gym. It’s just really competitive and fun to play with them.”
Rollins:
“Agreed. I think they’re just a good group of girls and I think the chemistry that we have is going to take us far. I just think that they’ve welcomed us so well and helped us throughout the drills, the hard days and the good days, so it’s really nice.”
Coach, what are some things that you know about your team now that you didn’t two weeks ago before the season?
“To me, it’s a work in progress. We didn’t start the season great. We’re limiting our service errors. I think, at some point, I’ll have a little better handle on the rotations and the substitute patterns. I think we have to get Nasta [Kudryashova] in there. I think she provides a big block and good offense. That other setting position, some officials blow the whistle on anything and some officials don’t blow the whistle at all, so you don’t know until the match starts how the match is going to be officiated. Tonight’s official, three weeks ago, was doing the Olympics. You just see how they’re going to establish the way the game is going to be played and you go from there.”