Box Score vs. Penn State I Box Score vs. Albany

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Eastern Kentucky's volleyball team fell to No. 1 Penn State 3-0 before finishing off the Penn State Classic with a 3-2 win over Albany.

Top-ranked Penn State (8-1) won by scores of 25-10, 25-8 and 25-19.

Only three teams this season have scored more than Eastern's 19 points in a set against the Nittany Lions – Texas, Florida and Central Arkansas. Syracuse, Louisville and Marquette failed to score more than 17 points in any set against Penn State.

Junior Alexis Plagens led EKU with 12 kills. She made only two errors in 25 attacks for a .400 attack percentage. Katie Slay had a team-best 11 kills for Penn State. She posted a .625 attack percentage and had five block assists.

PSU hit .440 as a team, making only nine errors in 84 attacks. Eastern Kentucky had a .045 attack percentage.

EKU beat Albany by scores of 25-17, 22-25, 20-25, 25-18 and 15-9. The win snapped a seven-match losing streak for the Colonels (5-8).

Plagens led the team again, this time finishing with 15 kills. Ashley Edmond had 14 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Johanna Boyer and sophomore Rachel Vick added 12 kills each. Dena Ott contributed a match-best 17 digs.

Tatum Jungsten led Albany (0-12) with 15 kills.

With Albany leading the match 2-1, Eastern fell behind 4-0 in the fourth set. However, the Colonels rolled off six unanswered to get back in the match. The set remained close until EKU used a 7-1 run to turn a 15-15 tie into a 22-16 lead. Consecutive errors by Albany ended the set and tied the match 2-2.

In the decisive fifth set, Eastern never trailed. With the set tied 2-2, the Colonels went on a 6-1 run to build an 8-3 lead. Vick's kill ended the set and the match.

Before returning to Richmond, the Colonels will play at St. Francis on Sunday at 1 p.m.