No. 11 Penn State women’s volleyball defeated No. 7 Wisconsin 3-2 in Madison on Sunday, securing its first road win against the Badgers since 2017.
The Nittany Lions won by set scores of 20-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-19, and 15-11. The victory marks their seventh straight win, lifting them into a tie for second place in the Big Ten standings with an 18-5 overall record and a 10-3 conference mark.
Kennedy Martin led the attack with 28 kills, 12 digs, and three aces while hitting .328. This performance followed a 34-kill outing on .500 hitting in a four-set win at No. 19 Minnesota two days prior, earning her back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Week honors.
Whitney Lauenstein added 15 kills and three blocks, and Emmi Sellman contributed seven kills. Kendall Northern hit .429, with nine kills and five blocks, and Gabrielle Nichols hit .429 with eight kills and three blocks.
Alexis Stucky directed the offense to a .307 hitting percentage with 55 assists and 12 digs for a double-double, alongside one ace. For Wisconsin, freshman Decelise Champion tallied a team-high 19 kills on .220 hitting, while Jaela Auguste notched four kills on .800 hitting in the opening set.
Wisconsin took the first set 25-20 after building an 18-12 lead behind a solo block from Lynney Tarnow. Penn State responded in the second set with a 25-18 win, fueled by a 5-0 run and a flawless five kills on five swings from Northern.
The Badgers claimed the third set 25-20 as Champion put down 10 kills on .769 hitting. Penn State forced a fifth set by taking the fourth 25-19, hitting .371 and late kills from freshmen Haley Burgdorf and Northern.
In the decisive fifth set, Penn State broke a 9-9 tie, closing out the match 15-11 on a kill by Sellman off a set from Falduto followed by a match-point kill from Martin off a set by Stucky.
Next up, Penn State travels to play Maryland on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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