No 10 Penn State Volleyball Completes Perfect Weekend, Sweeps Hofstra to Close Penn State Invitational
By: Matt Flanagan | SportzWire | August 31, 2026 | Photo courtesy Jake Speicher
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — No. 10 Penn State women’s volleyball closed out its season-opening tournament in style, sweeping Hofstra 3-0 (25-20, 25-9, 25-23) on Sunday night at Rec Hall to finish the Penn State Invitational a perfect 3-0.
Outside hitter Kennedy Martin was the story of the night, hitting .556 for 17 kills to go with eight digs and three aces. Her performance earned her tournament MVP honors, with teammates Alexis Stucky and Gabrielle Nichols also landing spots on the All-Tournament Team.
Penn State controlled the match from the opening set, hitting .326 as a team and holding Hofstra to just .139 hitting on the night. Setter Stucky ran the offense efficiently, finishing with 31 assists, while libero Ava Falduto anchored the back row with 13 digs. Whitney Lauenstein chipped in 14 digs of her own, and Nichols was flawless at the net, converting all four of her attack attempts into kills.
The Nittany Lions pulled away from a 6-6 tie in the first set with a 4-0 run and never looked back, closing it out 25-20. Set two was a rout, as Penn State jumped to a commanding lead and cruised to a 25-9 win behind a blistering .600 hitting clip and three aces from Martin. Hofstra pushed back in the third, cutting a five-point Nittany Lion lead down to one late, but Martin closed the door with back-to-back kills, the second one clinching the match.
The sweep capped a tournament in which Penn State also topped UConn and survived a five-set battle with High Point, while Hofstra finished the event 2-1.
Up next, the Nittany Lions head to Chicago for a marquee non-conference test against No. 3 Kentucky at Wrigley Field on Sunday, Sept. 6, part of a B1G/SEC Challenge doubleheader that also features Nebraska against Missouri.
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