Women's Volleyball Falls Just Short At #13 Penn State, 3-2

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Women's Volleyball

September 26, 7PM

at Penn

Philadelphia, Pa.

Women's Volleyball

October 3, 7PM

vs Brown

Princeton, N.J.

Women's Volleyball

October 4, 5PM

vs Yale

Princeton, N.J.

Women's Volleyball

October 10, 6PM

at Dartmouth

Women's Volleyball

October 11, 5PM

at Harvard

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite taking a 2-1 lead over defending national champions #13 Penn State, the Princeton University women's volleyball team fell just short a five-set thriller, 3-2 (25-15, 20-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-8), Friday night inside Rec Hall in the Tigers' opening match at the Penn State Classic.

Valerie Nutakor recorded her third double-double of the season, compiling a team-high 14 kills along with 10 digs. Erin McNair added 13 kills and eight digs while Ava Harrington finished with a career-high nine kills. Sydney Draper, who recorded her 2,000th career assist, handed out a team-high 44 assists and Sydney Bold led the Tigers in digs with 13 along with service aces with two. Lucia Scalamandre's three blocks were also a team-high.

While the Nittany Lions jumped out to a 10-5 lead, kills by McNair and Clark followed by a Penn State attacking error narrowed the deficit to two at 10-8. With the Nittany Lions up 12-9, a 7-0 Penn State run pushed their lead out to 19-9. From there, the Nittany Lions held on for the 25-15 first set victory.

The second set was played to a stalemate at 13-13, but a pair of Draper kills along with a Penn State attacking error saw Princeton jump out to a 16-13 advantage. The Nittany Lions were able to narrow the deficit to one at 16-15, but a kill by Draper followed by a pair of Penn State attacking errors extended the Tigers' lead to four at 19-15. Princeton close the set out in impressive fashion; a kill by Nutakor was followed by a double-block by Harrington and Scalamandre then a Bold service ace as the Tigers evened it up at 1-1, winning the set 25-20.

S2: Princeton 25, #13 Penn State 20

Set point!

Sydney Bold's service ace ties the match at 1-1 with the Nittany Lions!

??: https://t.co/m3DUk7hZ1h #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/EyzAnMzriP
— Princeton Women's Volleyball (@PrincetonWVB) September 20, 2025

Princeton got off a strong start in the third set, with a Nittany Lion attacking error along with kills by Harrington, Scalamandre and Nutakor giving the Tigers an early 4-1 advantage. Princeton stayed ahead throughout, but Penn State was able to narrow the deficit down to two at 17-15, by kills by McNair and Harrington pushed the Tigers' lead back out to 19-15. Set point came at 24-20 after a Nittany Lion attacking error, then a kill by McNair sealed the third set triumph for Princeton, 25-22, as the Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the match.

S3: Princeton 25, #13 Penn State 22

Erin McNair's team-high 10th kill puts the Tigers ahead 2-1 over the Nittany Lions!

??: https://t.co/m3DUk7hZ1h #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/QqkGw3S0kM
— Princeton Women's Volleyball (@PrincetonWVB) September 20, 2025

Ignited by a McNair kill, the Tigers took a 6-5 lead early in the fourth set. With the score knotted at 10-10, a 5-0 Penn State run saw the Nittany Lions take a 15-10 lead which they would not relinquish. Penn State went on to prevail, 25-16 and send the match to a decisive fifth set.

The fifth set began as a back-and-forth battle, with a Nutakor kill tying it up at 7-7. The Nittany Lions used a 7-0 run to earn match point, 14-7, then triumphed in the fifth set, 15-8, to outlast the Tigers in the match, 3-2.

Up Next
The Tigers face Central Michigan (3-7) tomorrow at 2 p.m. inside Rec Hall in their final match at the Penn State Classic.

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