Penn State is one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten as the calendar is close to turning from October to November and the regular season in women’s volleyball is winding to a close. However, on Thursday night at Rec Hall, Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s team didn’t look like it out of the gate, falling 25-23 to Ohio State in Set 1 before turning it on and dispatching the Buckeyes 3-1.
The win lifts Penn State to 16-5 (8-3) and drops the Buckeyes to 10-11 (3-8). Following the first set, the Nittany Lions were surgical, winning Set 2 25-19, Set 3 25-11, and Set 4 25-16, and they did it behind the reigning AVCA National Player of the Week, Kennedy Martin, who finished with 18 kills on 38 swings with 4 errors (.368), four service aces, 13 digs and six block assists.
The Big Ten’s leader in kills and points per set averaged 4.5 and 6.25 on the night. Penn State’s outside hitters, Whitney Lauenstein and Haley Burgdorf, added 12 and 10 kills, respectively on another balanced and efficient night orchestrated by the reigning Big Ten setter of the week, Alexis Stucky, who finished with 47 assists.
Penn State’s offense sprung to life after a sloppy start
This season, Ohio State, a young team rebuilding after a rough 2025 season, has struggled defensively. Naomy Govou has been a revelation for the Buckeyes offensively, but at just 5-foot-9, the French import has serious limitations at the net.
Early on, Penn State failed to take advantage not just of Govou, who did have a stellar solo block on a Kendall Northern slide play, along with a kill/dig double-double, but of the Buckeyes defense as a whole. The Nittany Lions hit just .119 in the first set with eight attacking errors and a service error.
The rest of the way, however, Penn State hit .381 to finish at .302 for the match. That efficiency wasn’t just a credit to Stucky’s ability to spread the ball around, but to her own ability as an attacker, finishing with five kills on 11 attempts with no errors. Stucky varied her quick attacks with a variety of dumps and slams, forcing the Ohio State defense to account for her.
Penn State also added nine service aces to zero for Ohio State. After the first set, you could see the difference in quality between the two sides. Penn State was so thoroughly in control of the proceedings by the fourth set that a beleaguered Ohio State attack resorted to consistent offspeed swings and tips, desperate to find any consistency.
The only problem is that it took a set for Penn State to reach that form.
Purdue may not be so forgiving on Saturday
On Saturday, Penn State plays its penultimate regular-season match at Rec Hall, hosting No. 11 Purdue. Even without Kenna Wollard, who is missing the season as she battles non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the Boilermakers are one of the top teams in the Big Ten.
If the Nittany Lions come out as sloppy as they did in Set 1 on Saturday, the Boilermakers may not let them come back. Purdue is too good of an opponent to spot a set, so Penn State needs to come out looking like the team it was for the final three against Ohio State and across this four-game win streak.
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