No. 8-seed Penn State previously started the national tournament on the right foot, defeating South Florida in four sets. However, the Nittany Lions had the daunting task of facing first-seeded Texas on its home court in Austin, with their defending national champion status on the line.
The blue and white fell in three sets to the Longhorns, closing out its season with a second-round exit and a 19-13 overall record. Texas moves on to the regional semifinal to face fourth-seeded Indiana.
All game long, it was a battle between two AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalists, Kennedy Martin and Torrey Stafford. Martin jumped out to a slight individual lead in spite of her team playing from behind, posting seven kills in the first set to Stafford’s six.
Stafford’s hitting dominated Penn State’s back row, as she concluded her night with 21 kills on 36 swings, hitting .556. Martin, although leading the blue and white with 16 kills on the night, was halted by the Longhorns’ defense, as she only hit .225.
However, Stafford wasn’t the only hitter finding success. Abby Vander Wal and Cari Spears also contributed significantly, recording 10 and nine kills, respectively.
Although Penn State won last year’s national championship, it came into its matchup with Texas as the heavy underdogs, overshadowed by the orange and white’s 24-3 record. And it showed early. The Nittany Lions made a series of hitting errors that gave the Longhorns a swift 4-1 lead.
Despite the Nittany Lions rebounding with a 3-0 run courtesy of Caroline Jurevicius and Maggie Mendelson to close the gap to 9-8, errors continued to be Penn State’s downfall. The next four out of Texas’s six points resulted from errors as the Longhorns took a 15-9 lead.
Martin added two kills as the blue and white rallied to bring the score to 16-13, but that’s when Stafford truly entered the fray. She put up back-to-back kills and a block to give Texas a 22-14 lead, and it appeared to be all in the Longhorn’s favor.
Stafford put Texas on set point when Martin wasn’t able to receive her swing, and then took the first set, 25-16, with her sixth kill of the game.
The Longhorns quickly surged to a 3-0 lead early in the second set, but then traded points with Martin to set the score at 5-3. Penn State was primarily successful once in-system, when setter Addie Lyon was able to get the opportunity to deliver a clean set to Martin. However, the Nittany Lions struggled on their first touches.
While Martin remained red-hot, her teammates began to warm up as well. Emmi Sellman contributed her first kill of the night, followed by Jurevicius, to bring Penn State within one, at 8-7.
But the hitting success plateaued there.
Martin and Jurevicius made a series of hitting errors in Texas’ 11-0 run to take a 19-7 lead. While coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley used her timeouts in an effort to stabilize her team, the Longhorns had figured out how to stop Martin and hit away from the Big Ten Libero of the Year, Gillian Grimes, resulting in a run that completely debilitated the defending national champions.
The run was ended by Jordan Hopp, but the damage had already been dealt. Mendelson’s strike flew long to put Texas on set-point, 24-9, and Martin’s following attack was stopped at the net by Spears and Ayden Ames to take a two-set lead. By the end of the second set, Texas was hitting .511 to Penn State’s .032.
In the third set, the Nittany Lions regained their composure, keeping the score close through the early stages. Although Penn State showed fight on the brink of defeat, the Nittany Lions weren’t able to locate an answer to Stafford’s hitting.
Stafford was also dominant at the net, putting up another block on Hopp’s attack to take a 14-9 lead. After a kill by Sellman, it was all Stafford, as she added three-straight kills en route to a 17-10 lead.
The Nittany Lions showed heart with pockets of success with Jurevicius and Martin, as Penn State closed the gap to 22-18. However, the comeback effort came too late. Stafford put Texas on match point with a kill that Grimes nearly dug, but the ball hit the speakers above the court.
Stafford ended Penn State’s season with her 21st kill of the game, winning the third set, 25-19.
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