Big Ten Opener Goes to Nittany Lions

State College, Pa -

Michigan State suffered a 3-0 loss at No. 5 Penn State on Wednesday (24-26, 21-25, 18-25) in the Big Ten opener for both teams. The Spartans fall to 9-2 overall on the season, while Penn State improves to 8-2.

MSU suffered from its toughest hitting night of the season, finishing with a season-low .126 – and Penn State out-blocked MSU by a 9-6 margin. Both teams struggled from the service line – MSU had 12 errors, PSU nine – and Penn State hit .258, the second-best for a Spartan opponent.

MSU was led by 10 kills and six digs from junior Meredith Norris, and seven kills, four blocks, and an ace from Rebecka Poljan, who hit .417. Lauren Swartz had six kills and four digs.

Jonni Parker finished with 16 kills, two aces, and three blocks for Penn State. Setter Gabby Blossom had 28 assists and eight digs.

The Spartans play their Big Ten home opener on Saturday when they host Maryland at 8 pm.

PLAYER HIGHS

Meredith Norris was MSU's lone player with double-digit kills (10), and she added six digs.
Rebecka Poljan had seven kills and a team- best four blocks.

QUOTABLE
"We were right there in the first and second sets, and our team needs to take the good with the setback in this match. We obviously are still growing and a part of the maturation of the team is acknowledging what we're doing well and trying to make it even better while we also work on the areas we feel we're deficient. We have a few days to rest and then come back with a strong effort against Maryland."

Head coach Cathy George

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: Penn State took a 3-0 lead thanks in part to a pair of MSU hitting errors, but the Spartans were back within a point on a Lauren Swartz kill. The Spartans rolled out to a 8-6 lead to rebound from the early deficit, and then continued a 12-4 run to push their lead out to five (12-7) before Penn State called a time out. After the two early errors, MSU played nearly errorless ball – the Spartans led 13-8 with eight kills on 14 swings (.356), with the lone error in the run coming on a PSU block. The Nittany Lions came back to tie it at 14-all with a 4-1 run, and stayed within two points to tie things again at 18. MSU took a 20-18 advantage after a block by Kabengele and Poljan, and the Nittany Lions took their first lead since 5-4 by going up 22-21 after an MSU net violation and hitting error. Poljan put own her fourth kill out of the time out, and Norris followed with a shot from the left pin to give MSU back the lead. With the teams tied at 23, they traded service errors, and PSU sophomore Allyson Cathey gave her team set point with a kill off the block. MSU called time out trailing 24-25, and a big block at the right pin by Cathey and Kaitlyn Hord gave the home team the first set, 26-24. Poljan and Swartz delivered four kills each, with Poljan chipping in a pair of blocks. Jonni Parker also had four kills for the home team, which used a late surge to improve its hitting percentage for the set to .188 (12-6-32). MSU hit .079 (14-11-38), with four of those errors coming as PSU blocks.

SET TWO: MSU's early lead fluctuated between two and three points, its largest at 11-8. PSU tied things up at 13-all, and then as MSU held a 16-14 edge, the home team used a 6-1 run to go up 20-17, and the Spartans challenged the call on an out-of-bounds call on Norris, looking for a touch. The call was overturned to make it 19-18 PSU, and a PSU error then tied things up at 19-19. The teams traded service errors to make it 20-20, and back-to-back kills from Hord and Cathey, followed by an MSU error, gave the home team a 23-20 edge. The Spartans got a kill from Norris to cut it to two, but a pair of MSU errors gave the set to the home team, 25-21. Norris had five kills and three digs, while Poljan had a kill and a pair of blocks. Parker had six of Penn State's 10 kills, and the Nittany Lions hit marginally better (10-8-30, .066) than MSU (7-7-29, .000) in the frame. Each team had three blocks.

SET THREE: Penn State took a 7-3 lead with some help from a pair of MSU hitting errors, and grew the lead to five (11-6) on a pair of kills from Parker and Cathey and an ace by Gabby Blossom. The Spartans called time out, and was able to trim things down to a three-point deficit (16-13), and the home team called time out. Parker and Serena Gray put down back-to-back kills to make it five points once again at 18-13, and despite the best efforts, the Spartans could not get any closer as the Nittany Lions hit a match-best .556 in the final frame (17-2-27). Alyssa Chronowski led MSU with four third-set kills. Parker had six kills for a second straight set, and Tori Gorrell had five on six swings.

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Team Stats

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

Molly Johnson

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz

Molly Johnson

Players Mentioned

Alyssa Chronowski

Meredith Norris

Rebecka Poljan

Lauren Swartz