Women’s Volleyball (4-1)
In the first ever volleyball game played at Wrigley Field, Penn State fell to Kentucky in four sets. It was a tough, competitive match for most of the way, but missed opportunities plagued Penn State in the first set and allowed the Wildcats to build a two-set lead. The Nittany Lions narrowly took set three, but Kentucky blew the fourth set open early to seal Penn State’s first defeat of the season. Kennedy Martin (16 kills), Whitney Lauenstein (13), and Finley Krystkowiak (10) all reached double-digit
kills against an excellent Kentucky defense, hopefully signaling more depth at outside hitter for Penn State this year.
On Labor Day, Penn State was slow out of the gate against DePaul but found its stride later in the first set. The Nittany Lions rallied from 21-15 down to take set 1 en route to a 3-0 sweep of the Blue Demons. Ryla Jones had six blocks and helped Penn State close out the sweep in the third set.
Penn State will face Stanford at the Palestra on Friday night (6pm on BTN). The Lions will then face Ohio at home on Saturday (7pm on Big Ten Plus) and Villanova on Tuesday (7pm on FS1).
Women’s Soccer (2-2-1)
The women’s soccer team tied Virginia Tech in its only match of the week. Paige Kalal scored the only goal of the game for Penn State in the 15th minute. The Nittany Lions held the lead until late in the second half, when Gabby Ciocca tied the game for the Hokies in the 85th minute. Mackenzie Gress made 10 saves for Penn State to help bail out a defense that struggled to contain Virginia Tech’s attack in the second half.
Penn State will hit the road to take on Ohio State in the Big Ten opener tonight (7pm on BTN) before returning home to face Minnesota on Sunday (noon on BTN).
Men’s Soccer (2-2)
The men’s soccer team fought back to .500 with a 1-0 win over Yale. Penn State did not allow a single shot on goal in the game. Joe Buckley scored early in the second half to provide the winning margin. The team has struggled to find its footing early in the season, but it was a step in the right direction for Rob Dow’s squad.
Penn State will open Big Ten play tomorrow against Washington (10:30pm on Big Ten Plus).
Field Hockey (3-1)
The field hockey team continued its homestand with a 2-0 win over Villanova and a 2-1 win over Delaware. Aby Deverka made four saves, and Natalie Freeman and Josephine Purdy each scored once in a shutout win over Villanova. The Delaware game was a bit of a struggle at both ends of the field, but the Nittany Lions got two goals from Ella Gaitan and nine saves from Aby Deverka to hold on and extend the winning streak to three games.
Penn State will face Princeton on Sunday (noon on Big Ten Plus).
