Penn State women’s volleyball sweeps UMBC on home floor in first round of NCAA Tournament
Outmatched and outperformed.
Those two words do well to sum up UMBC against Penn State women’s volleyball on Friday in Rec Hall, a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) loss for the visiting team.
Winning the first five points of the contest, the Nittany Lions looked poised for a blowout first set and forced an early timeout by the Retrievers.
“Anytime you can go 5-0, and you know, earn some points is a good thing,” head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said following the win. “I’m just glad we kept grinding away and earning.”
Despite the commanding deficit, the road team was able to gain some momentum, in response, winning four of the next six points to bring the score to 7-4 — but that run didn’t last long. Taking the next five points, the blue and white earned a commanding lead that it never came close to surrendering.
Once they earned a 10-point advantage at 17-7, the Nittany Lions went back and forth with UMBC before finally securing the 25-14 first-set win.
Out-killing its opponent 12-6 in the frame, Penn State was in control of the opening frame from start to finish.
While the second frame saw the visiting team fall behind by five points early again, the unit didn’t go quietly.
Mirroring the first, the Retrievers pulled the score to 6-4 and 11-9 in the second set, sticking around until the score came to 15-11 in favor of the blue and white. What followed was a backbreaking run that put things out of reach for UMBC.
Penn State used its third 5-0 run of the night to take a daunting 20-11 lead, with kills from freshman Alexa Markley, senior Zoe Weatherington and junior Allie Holland fueling the charge. On the night, Weatherington paced the team with nine kills while Markley, Holland and graduate student Kashauna Williams closely followed with seven apiece.
“(Williams) and (Weatherington) both got big arms and hit the crap out of the ball,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “They both have the green light to swing ... and they know that.”
The Retrievers responded to the run with four straight points of its own but a kill from Holland retook the momentum for the Nittany Lions en route to a 25-17 victory in Set 2.
Frame No. 3 began with a first for the match — UMBC leading. Working to a 3-1 advantage in the frame, the road unit showed fight. However, what followed might’ve finally broken the team’s spirits.
The blue and white went on an immediate 7-0 run and soon after went on another five-point bender to take a commanding 15-6 lead. In the midst of those runs, Retrievers head coach Kasey Crider took two timeouts, both of which did little to inspire a serious comeback.
To close the third and final set, Penn State outscored UMBC 10-6 with Holland and Markley combining for the match-winning block.
Despite his team’s brutal loss, Crider was gracious for the opportunity to play in the big dance.
“The alternative is being at home watching this match and not getting your butts kicked. And we’ll choose this every time,” Crider said. “We’ll do it again tomorrow if they’d let us, and I know Penn State’s got bigger fish to fry, but I’m really really proud and honored to be just a piece of this group.”
While the Retrievers’ 2022 season comes to an end, the Nittany Lions have a quick turnaround with their next match against UCF at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Rec Hall.
With less than 24 hours to prepare for its next opponent, Penn State feels up to the challenge.
“The match is here, so ... we’re gonna be ready to go,” Schumacher-Cawley said.
