Women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and field hockey all split last week
Women’s Volleyball (7-5)
The women’s volleyball team beat USC in five sets and lost to UCLA in four sets. Kennedy Martin’s 29 kills carried Penn State over the line against USC. The Nittany Lions won the first two sets and nearly blew a 2-0 lead before narrowly escaping 15-13 in the decisive final set.
Penn State won the first set against UCLA but dropped the final three in a rough outing for the team’s defense. Kennedy Martin had a season-high 34 kills in the match, and Maggie Mendelson added five blocks. The offense has become heavily reliant on Martin, a bad omen for the remainder of conference play.
Penn State will host Nebraska tomorrow (8pm on FOX) and travel to Maryland on Sunday (4pm on BTN).
Women’s Soccer (6-4-2)
The women’s soccer team fell to Illinois 4-3 at home before rebounding with a 2-1 win against Northwestern. Aubrey Kulpa, Kaitlyn MacBean, and Olivia Borgen each scored one goal for the Nittany Lions in a back-and-forth loss to Illinois. Neither team led by more than one goal at any point, and the Fighting Illini broke a 3-3 tie in the 84th minute to secure a road win over Penn State.
Penn State never trailed in its 2-1 road win over Northwestern to bring the team back to .500 in conference play. Amelia White and Molly Martin each scored in the match for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State will face Rutgers on the road on Saturday (4pm on Big Ten Plus).
Field Hockey (5-4)
The field hockey team took down Michigan State 2-0 and fell to Syracuse 3-2 last weekend. Penn State recorded its first shutout win of the season against the Spartans, allowing just two shots on goal in the entire contest. Olivia Marthins and Ella Jennes scored fourth-quarter goals to secure the home victory.
Penn State carried a 1-0 lead into the final quarter against Syracuse thanks to a goal from Morgan McMenamin. Syracuse evened the score early in the fourth, but Joji Purdy gave the Nittany Lions the lead back with under six minutes to play. A couple of bad defensive breakdowns for Penn State gave the Orange the opening they needed to come back and win the game. Syracuse scored twice in the final two minutes of regulation to stun Penn State.
Penn State will travel to Michigan tomorrow (6pm) and Ohio State on Sunday (noon).
Men’s Soccer (3-4-2)
The men’s soccer team won its only game of the week, a 2-0 decision against Robert Morris. Goals from Kai Phillip and Ben Liscum provided the winning margin, and Jonathan Evans made a pair of saves to keep the Colonials off the scoreboard. All three of Penn State’s wins this season have been shutouts.
Penn State will take on Michigan State tomorrow (5pm on Big Ten Plus) and King’s College on Sunday (3pm on Big Ten Plus).
Category: General Sports
