UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Northwestern volleyball (7-9, 0-5 B1G) dropped a 3-0 match to No. 18 Penn State (11-4, 3-2 B1G) on Friday night in University Park, falling 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 inside Rec Hall.
Campbell Paris led the offense, recording eight kills to lead all Wildcats. First-year Maya Stillwell racked up seven kills of her own, her most in a Big Ten match, while Ellie Stiernagle added 25 more assists to her season total.
How It Happened
SET 1 | Though Paris went a perfect four-for-four on attacks in the first set, it wasn’t enough to get the Wildcats past Penn State. Mara Štiglic put Northwestern on the board first with an opening kill, but that would be the ‘Cats’ only lead of the set, as the Nittany Lions used a 4-0 scoring run to get their offense in gear. Kendall Northern led the way with five kills, and Penn State hit .469 as a team en route to 18 total kills. They led by as many as ten points, 22-12, and staved off a late rally by the Wildcats to take the first set 25-18.
SET 2 | Penn State came out hot once again in the second set, using a balanced offense to expand an early 7-3 lead. Then, with Drew Wright at the service line, the ‘Cats battled back to a 7-7 tie using kills from Stillwell and Bella Bullington to run off four straight points. The Nittany Lions had an answer, however, and led 15-11 by the media timeout. Paris and Kayla Kauffman chipped in another kill each in the second half, but Penn State closed out a 25-17 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
SET 3 | After another strong opening by the Nittany Lions, the ‘Cats made set three a battle in the middle stages. Trailing 18-9, a kill by Lily Wagner jumpstarted an eight-point scoring run for Northwestern. Gigi Navarrete led from the service line, collecting a pair of aces, and Wagner and Kauffman chipped in kills to bring the ‘Cats within a point of the Nittany Lions, 18-17. After a called timeout, however, Penn State ran off a 5-0 run of their own, expanding the lead back to 23-17. A final kill by Bullington kept the ‘Cats alive a little longer, but Penn State ultimately closed out the sweep with a 25-19 victory in set three.
Game Notes
- Kayla Kauffman matched her career high with five kills.
- Stillwell hit .556 en route to her seven kills, marking the fourth time this season she has recorded four or more kills on a .500 or better hitting percentage.
- Lauren Dignan led the team with eight digs.
Up Next
The 'Cats will finish off their road trip tomorrow evening in College Park, where they are set to take on the Maryland Terrapins at 6 p.m. CT. Action will be streamed on B1G+.