"Nobody wants to be in a fifth set with Penn State," Caroline Jurevicius said, as reported by FOX, to hype up the No. 5 Penn State volleyball team that just forced No. 24 TCU into set five.
Nobody does. Except the Horned Frogs (1-1).
TCU dominated the court Monday evening, taking advantage of the Nittany Lions (2-2) fresh off a loss.
Head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley told her team that the Arizona State 3-1 loss on Sunday needed to get out of the way. She said it was the loss the team needed to take the reigning champion pressure off of them. The Horned Frogs doubled that, sending Penn State that started its 2025 season undefeated with two wins down to .500.
TCU commanded the service line and forced Penn State to get out-of-system and frazzled
Schumacher-Cawley told FOX in between sets two and three that serve-receive was getting the best of the Nittany Lions and that she wants to see each of her players get on the court and perform to expectations.
All good attacks start with an on-target dig or serve-receive, and it was TCU that had that locked up in the first two sets. The Horned Frogs tallied 11 aces on Monday, but even that impressive number doesn't count for the hard-to-receive serves that Penn State managed to get up.
Deep float serves, even if it was serve-receive star Ava Falduto getting the first touch, left setter Izzy Starck chasing for the second touch. When the receive is off target, it makes Starck's job that much harder to get her feet under the ball, her body in position, and make a perfect set to her hitters. Tough-to-receive serves force out-of-system plays and difficult positioning for setters, which is exactly what
Horned Frogs Evan Hendrix and Becca Kelley recorded 14 and 13 kills, respectively, taking advantage of seams in the back row and the block to get the Nittany Lions to put the ball out of bounds without control. Offense was scattered throughout the TCU court, though, getting Sarah Sylvester and Alexis Roberson in on the action with Lauren Murphy getting a few kills as well. Penn State, on the other hand, relied on Kennedy Martin and Emmi Sellman, who had 21 and 10 kills, respectively, without dipping into the negative hitting average, like Jurevicius.
Penn State re-found its identity, but it wasn't enough to last through set five
The Nittany Lions pulled together to hold the Horned Frogs off in sets three and four, forcing a five-set match. Falduto and libero Gillian Grimes got comfortable in the back row, digging and getting nearly perfect ups for Starck.
Getting middle blocker and freshman Gabrielle Nichols got that much easier with Starck having greater control of the second touch. She also maintained control over the block, not allowing jousts at the net override her decision-making. Instead of sending the ball back over in two, which was expected on TCU's side of the net as the front row players prepared for a quick return, Starck pushed out a beautiful set to Sellman. The ball floated nearly the whole width of the court, but there wasn't a doubt in Starck's mind about getting it that far over and in the perfect placement and rhythm for her outside hitter.
It wasn't just about putting heavy balls down into the court, it was making smart plays, like Starck's decision to not send it over in two. Sellman on the outside got sneaky in switching up the pace of her attacks, whether she sent a heavy ball straight down, hit the top of the block to deflect the ball way out of reach, or sent a soft tip over to throw TCU off pace.
In the fourth set, especially, that Penn State took 25-19, the Nittany Lions had more desire to their game. They wanted the match to go into five, and every point mattered. Sellman hustled on one play with a one-arm dig and Falduto tracked down another ball that was deflected beyond the lines of the court to keep Penn State alive for the point.
Unfortunately for Penn State, though, the momentum that powered through those two sets didn't carry over into the fifth and TCU took an early lead. Digging deep to come back from a 13-9 deficit, it was Starck's final service error that handed the Horned Frogs a 3-2 match win with a 15-12 final fifth set score.
Penn State's tough schedule doesn't end with the Horned Frogs. The Nittany Lions have to turn around and find a way to regroup and re-identify before Sept. 5 against No. 4 Kentucky. First serve against the Wildcats is slated for 8 p.m. and the match can be watched on FOX.