Dropping the first two sets to the Washington Huskies wasn’t the ideal way for Penn State to start its match on Friday night. The two-set deficit proved to be too much to overcome, as the Nittany Lions lost the match 3-2 (25-11, 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 15-13).
Penn State struggled throughout the match, hitting only .176 compared to .285 for Washington. Kennedy Martin reflected those struggles, hitting only .129, although she did post 17 kills. Maggie Mendelson and Caroline Jurevicius followed with 12 kills each. Emmi Sellman recorded 10 kills. But 30 attack errors, 17 service errors, two ball-handling errors, and one blocking error (50 errors total) put the Nittany Lions in a deep hole and they weren’t able to climb out.
There were some bright spots. Senior libero Gillian Grimes scooped up 24 digs, and Jr. DS Jocelyn Nathan registered a career high of 16 digs. Grimes and Sr. MB Jordan Hopp each had 3 service aces, Martin had two, and Nathan and Ava Falduto each had one.
Penn State alum Alexa Markley led the Huskies with 16 kills on .308 hitting, and chipped in 13 digs.
Penn State is now 10-7 overall and 4-3 in the B1G, and is 4-3 all-time against Washington. The Huskies improved to 9-8 overall, 4-3 in the B1G.
DigNittany Exclusive Post-Match Interviews
After the match, Jordan Hopp and Joce Nathan kindly took time to answer questions from Ethan Kasales. Below is the transcript of those interviews, lightly edited for length and clarity:
Jordan Hopp
Ethan Kasales: What were some of the things that Washington did particularly well tonight?
Jordan Hopp: I think they played defense really well. I thought they were touching a lot of balls. They usually are kills for us, and I think that they fought really hard. And I think that it’s kind of shown they played really good defense tonight.
Ethan Kasales: You had a pretty good match. What was working well between you and Addie?
Jordan Hopp: Our goal is to hit the certain parts of the court that we were aiming for. She got me balls that kind of led me to that direction. I also think she’s really good on the fly and being able to make quick decisions. And sometimes that gets me a one on one. And I think anytime we have a one on one, we need to score.
Ethan Kasales: What was it like playing against Alexa tonight?
Jordan Hopp: Oh, it was great. I’m happy for her. I’m proud that she’s playing well and getting to do what she always wanted to do — playing six rotations is something that she always wanted to do. So I’m happy for her.
Ethan Kasales: What’s it been like being out on the West Coast in general? It looked like it was pretty beautiful on the flight.
Jordan Hopp: Gorgeous. I actually had no idea that Seattle was so surrounded with scenery. And that’s my favorite thing. When cities are surrounded with scenery, like Chicago, and have lakes and stuff. It’s a great, great place, great state, very welcoming people out here. So it’s really nice.
Ethan Kasales: What are some things you guys need to do tomorrow to clean things up a bit?
Jordan Hopp: We need to start sets off faster, be able to score, like I said, when we’re one-on-one from all areas of the court. Not dig holes. Be way better from the service line. I think we were getting aces. But I think our errors were really overtaking that tonight.
Ethan Kasales: What are some things you want to work on?
Jordan Hopp: Personally, I really want to work on being able to score one-on-one in front, I think, or just in front in general, to be another option. And then I think just being better for my teammates when it comes to blocking, being better for my littles, to be able to set up around the block, and just overall communication.
Ethan Kasales: What are some things you want to see as far as the team’s leadership goes?
Jordan Hopp: I just want to see a little more fight. I think that we need to be mentally more engaged. And I think from a scouting perspective, we need to know what’s going on at all times. I think Coach always says, what happens with life between contacts, and I think we need to be able to really channel what she says.
Ethan Kasales: What do you think are some of the main reasons for some of the inconsistency this season?
Jordan Hopp: It’s a great question. If I have an answer for that, I think we just need to find what works best for people. And I think we need to find what drives each other and what makes each other better. I would also say we just need to just get going playing volleyball and understanding that we know what to do and just trust our training.
Ethan Kasales: Thanks for taking the time.
Jordan Hopp: Thanks for coming.
Joce Nathan
Ethan Kasales: What were some of the things that Washington did particularly well tonight to put pressure on you guys?
Joce Nathan: I think they were firing from all pins. All their pins were very effective against us. They were very good at hitting high hands and feel like getting points where we weren’t.
Ethan Kasales: What was it like playing against Alexa?
Joce Nathan: I mean, pretty normal. Like, used to playing against her every day last year, so not much has changed. She had a great game.
Ethan Kasales: What are some of the things that you think the team needs to focus on moving forward?
Joce Nathan: Just playing calmer. We’re perfectly fine, and can beat anyone when we’re calm, and passing and serving well. So just letting the other team make the errors and having a calmer attitude on our side.
Ethan Kasales: What are some things you think you’ve improved in your own personal game this season?
Joce Nathan: Probably middle back defense has been something I’ve been learning these last two years. I was used to left back growing up, so it’s been very nice to learn a new position, and I’m finally starting to feel like I’ve grown into it more and feel more comfortable there.
Ethan Kasales: Thanks so much. Appreciate it.