Volleyball Falls to No. 12 Penn State on Monday Evening

Monday, September 7

Chicago, Ill.

3 p.m.

DePaul University

4-2,0-0Big East

Penn State

4-1,0-0Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Penn St.	25	27	25	3
DePaul	23	25	21	0

Volleyball Falls to No. 12 Penn State on Monday Evening

9/7/2026 5:50:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Blue Demons come up short in sweep at McGrath-Phillips Arena

CHICAGO – DePaul volleyball dropped a 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-21) decision to No. 13 Penn State on Monday night at McGrath-Phillips Arena, falling despite leads in the closing stages of both of the first two sets. The match was tightly contested throughout, with 20 total ties and eight lead changes, and DePaul was nearly even with Penn State on hitting percentage in the third set, .360 to .368, before the Nittany Lions closed it out.

"Heck of a response by the team today," said head coach Marie Zidek. "The main task was to see if we could hold our reception and service game while improving our defense to counter the attack. We did just that and put ourselves in position to score late in the match. This group is building and growing, and the crowd was awesome today. The team fed off it and really took responsibility to put ourselves in that match. Now we must protect what we've built and continue showing up."

DePaul hit .216 as a team (39 kills, 15 errors, 111 attempts) against a Penn State defense that finished with eight total blocks. Isabela Tavares-Salomon led the Blue Demons with 12 kills on a .286 clip, and Kendall Timme added 11 kills to go with a team-high five block assists. Martina Diana chipped in seven kills, and Jade Epps posted six. Leonor Polezzi ran the offense to 26 assists, and libero Nora Mannion paced the defense with a match-high 16 digs, followed by Polezzi's nine.

Penn State was led by Whitney Lauenstein's match-high 16 kills on .333 hitting, with Kennedy Martin adding 15 kills of her own. Setter Alexis Stucky dished out 37 assists, and libero Ava Falduto tallied 13 digs.

How it Happened
SET ONE | DePaul built a lead with Diana serving up an ace and a kill in the same stretch to push the margin to 12-5, and consecutive kills from Tavares-Salomon later extending it to 22-18 and 23-19. With the Blue Demons on the doorstep, Penn State closed the set on an unanswered 6-0 run, the final two points coming on Tavares-Salomon errors into the Penn State block, to escape with a 25-23 win.

SET TWO | Penn State carried its set-one closing kick directly into the second, opening on three more unanswered points and stretching the run to nine straight across the break before DePaul got on the board. The Blue Demons clawed back behind Timme, who had a hand in five kills on the night, and Epps, tying the set at 23-23. Timme's kill knotted it again at 24-24, and a block by Epps and Timme forced a Penn State attack error to put DePaul ahead 25-24, one point from forcing a fourth set. Penn State answered with the final three points to close it out 27-25.

SET THREE | DePaul weathered an early push from Lauenstein, who ripped off three-straight kills to put Penn State up 7-8, and battled back with a 4-0 run of its own, capped by back-to-back DePaul blocks, to tie it at 14-14. The set stayed tight until Stucky took over at the service line late, reeling off a run that included two aces and set up four-straight Penn State points to push the lead to 19-24. A successful challenge trimmed the deficit to 21-24, but Penn State closed it out 25-21 to complete the sweep.

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TICKET INFORMATION
Season ticket memberships are now live for the 2026 DePaul Volleyball season! Season ticket memberships include access to all 15 anticipated regular season matches at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Lincoln Park, plus an opportunity to purchase tickets for the Wintrust Arena match against Nebraska. Season tickets are available beginning at $79 for general admission and $129 for courtside seating! Want to bring your team to the match? Group ticket deposits are also available for parties of 10 or more. Visit DePaulBlueDemons.com/Tickets to reserve your seats today!