UNIVERSITY PARK — After the Penn State women’s volleyball team fell at home to Kentucky 3-0 on Sept. 5, the Nittany Lions quickly regrouped and shut out New Hampshire the next night at Rec Hall.
New Hampshire came in at 4-1, but Penn State immediately took control with a 25-11 win in the first set.
From there, it was 25-15 in the second set and then 25-20 in the third and deciding set.
The 3-0 win evened the Lions’ record at 3-3 for the season so far and gave the team some momentum going into an ambitious upcoming schedule that includes the Penn State Classic beginning on Friday, Sept. 19.
Penn State began the match with a kill by Maggie Mendelson and from there the Lions quickly built leads of 10-2, 15-5, and 20-10 in the first set.
The set ended at 25-11 on a kill by Jordan Hopp and a service ace by Emmi Sellman.
The second set was more of the same, and after a kill by Kennedy Martin and an ace by Gillian Grimes, Penn State shot out to a 5-0 lead.
New Hampshire fought back to get as close as 14-9, but a kill by Hopp and an ace by Martin gave the Lions a seven-point lead they would not lose.
The set ended at 25-15 on a kill by Martin.
Set 3 was competitive all the way with New Hampshire holding early leads, but Penn State tied it at 10-10 and then went ahead on a kill by Caroline Jurevicius and an ace by Ava Falduto.
From there, the Lions held New Hampshire at bay and eventually closed out the set, and match, with a kill by Gabrielle Nichols and two by Jurevicius.
Penn State was led in the match by Emmi Sellman with 11 kills while Jurevicius had 8, and Martin and Mendelson both had 7.
Addie Lyon had 26 assists, and Ava Falduto led with 7 digs.
Penn State also had 11 service aces with Martin striking three and Falduto and Grimes each getting two.
Penn State will next see Princeton and Central Michigan in the Penn State Classic on Friday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 21.
That will be followed by the Big Ten openers against USC on Friday, September 26 and UCLA on Sept. 28, both at Rec Hall.
