Penn State women’s volleyball find ‘aggressive’ flex to beat Wisconsin and Northwestern
Ayah Elnady(Northwestern), Lexi Gin (Penn State), and Madison Quest (Wisconsin) all had standout performances in their Big Ten matchups at Penn State over the weekend.
The No. 17 Penn State women’s volleyball team is finding it’s flow with a few more games remaining in the regular NCAA Division I season.
Coming off a winning weekend — winning a pair of Big Ten Conference matches in Rec Hall — the Nittany Lions’ squad is being worked.
Penn State defeated a top 10 nationally ranked powerhouse — Wisconsin — on Friday, which was then ranked No. 7 when they met up with Penn State. And, then the Nittany Lions refocused to host Northwestern on Sunday.
While PSU took down the Badgers in three sets, they had to go to four to beat Northwestern.
The momentum is a welcomed reprieve in a year the Lions find themselves reframing a new narrative after being crowned the 2024 NCAA Division I National Champions.
One point that Penn State head volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Crawley has continuously stressed is for her team to up its “aggressiveness.”
During the Friday White Out contest versus Wisconsin, Schumacher-Crawley said she’s starting to see it. The PSU flex showed up in both veteran players and among the youngest, too.
Kennedy Martin served back-to-back aces, which fired up the Penn State base. She ended the match with 23 kills.
She had defensive support from freshman specialist Lexi Gin. Small but mighty, Gin entered the tail end of the first set following the ball’s every movement.
“It's fun to see,” Schumacher-Cawley said when asked about Gin’s improvement. “She's got a great serve, and I've been putting the pressure on her to be more aggressive. She's getting stronger…to not only serve aggressive, but to be able to dig the ball that's coming back. I think she's getting better and better.”
Badger freshman outside hitter Madison Quest led her squad hitting .421 and finishing with 10 kills. The battle between the two freshman is sure to become something to watch over the course of their college careers.
Wisconsin are now 5-1 and Penn State are 4-2 in Big Ten Conference play, including the dub against Northwestern. Northwestern are 2-4 in conference.
Penn State swept Wisconsin 25-20, 25-21, and 25-16.
Entering the match between Penn State and Northwestern, the Wildcats had won two out of the five Big Ten matches on their schedule. Penn State had won three out of their five matches.
Penn State’s senior middle blocker Maggie Mendelson started off the Northwestern match attacking with the kind of mindset Schumacher-Cawley has been trying to instill. She attacked the ball and continued her fierce streak in subsequent, consecutive hard-hitting kills.
Northwestern struggled to attack the ball with force, allowing Penn State to stay in set with ease. The first set was won in under 30 minutes.
Penn State outside hitter Caroline Jurevicius scored 14.5 points, breaking her season high. Although many players stood out against Northwestern, the Nittany Lions worked as a cohesive team, weaving in and out of each line rhythmically.
“I think they're pushing each other to be the best they can,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “I think that they're holding each other accountable and doing the right things in practice to make changes.”
Northwestern graduate student Ayah Elnady turned up the heat in the third set, attacking the ball, inspiring her team to push harder. This energy sparked the Wildcats third set win.
While the third set was set back for Penn State, it was not enough for Northwestern’s comeback.
The Lions came into the fourth hungry to keep their winning streak alive. Penn State won another match in the Big Ten conference, with a final score of 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-16).
The Northwestern Wildcats will be back on October 16 to face Michigan. Penn State will take on the West Coast on October 17 and 18 against Washington and Oregon.
Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Lily Dorf is a student-intern at Penn State University.