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UNIVERSITY PARK - Kennedy Martin and Alexis Stucky each recorded double-doubles to lead No. 13 Penn State to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-16) win over Ohio State in Big Ten women's volleyball action Thursday night at Rec Hall. The win was the 1,500th in program history for Penn State, marking just the second time a Division I team reached that milestone.
Penn State improved to 16-5 overall with its fourth-straight win, while Ohio State dropped to 10-11 overall and 3-8 in the conference.
Martin hit .359 with 18 kills, 13 digs, six blocks, and four aces while posting her fourth double-double of the season and 25th of her career. Stucky guided the Penn State attack to .295 hitting with her 47 assists. She added 16 digs, four blocks, and two aces while recording her seventh double-double of the season and 31st of her career.
The Nittany Lions had three players reach double-digits in kills. Joining Martin were Whitney Lauenstein with 12 kills and Haley Burgdorf with 10. Gabrielle Nichols contributed six kills and excelled defensively with her nine blocks. Kendall Northern chipped in with six kills and six blocks, including two solo.
Kalli Jioshvili Ravva paced Ohio State with 12 kills on .320 hitting in addition to eight digs.
Set 1
Ohio State held Penn State to .119 hitting as it took the first set 25-22. Naomy Govou led the way with five kills on .625 hitting. The Nittany Lions pulled within one at 22-21 with a kill by Northern, but the Buckeyes responded with the final three points. Set point was scored on a Penn State attack error.
Set 2
Stucky tallied 14 assists as Penn State hit .317 in a 25-19 win. Martin tallied five kills, while Burgdorf and Lauenstein finished with four apiece. The Nittany Lions pulled away with a 4-0 run to go up 21-15. Stucky had a kill and a block during that stretch, while Lauenstein contributed two blocks. They controlled the rest of the set until scoring the final point on a kill by Martin.
Set 3
Penn State jumped out to a 7-0 lead and rolled to a 25-11 win in set three. The opening-set run was capped with a pair of aces by Stucky. The largest lead came with the final score of 25-11 after set point was scored on an ace by Burgdorf. The Nittany Lions had five blocks in the set, including three apiece by Nichols and Martin.
Set 4
Martin hit .500 with five kills to lead Penn State to a 25-16 win in the final set. Lauenstein added four kills on .400 hitting as the Nittany Lions hit .382 behind 14 assists from Stucky. Just like the third set, Penn State never trailed, after jumping out to a 10-3 lead following a kill by Northern. And just like set three, the final point was scored on an ace, this time by Martin.
Career Highs
Kendall Northern - blocks (6)
Up Next
No. 13 Penn State hosts No. 11 Purdue on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Boilermakers are 14-6 overall and 7-4 in the Big Ten following three straight wins over then-No. 20 Minnesota (3-2), Northwestern (3-0), and Rutgers (3-1).