COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Despite a career-high 27 kills from Kathryn Plummer, No. 1 Stanford dropped a 24-26, 17-25, 25-18, 19-25 decision to No. 5 Penn State, Friday, at Reed Arena.
Penn State (4-0) out hit Stanford (3-1) .257 to .214 for the match. The Nittany Lions also held a 12.0-7.0 advantage in blocks and a 4-3 edge in aces.
Plummer finished with her second double-double of the season, adding 11 digs to her 27 kills. The Aliso Viejo, California native hit a team-high .440.
Sophomore outside hitter Michaela Keefe recorded a career-high 15 kills on .273 hitting. Sophomore middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris finished with six kills, four digs and matched her career-best with two aces. Junior Tami Alade had a team-best six blocks.
Sophomore setter Jenna Gray finished with a season-high 54 assists to go with four kills, six digs and two blocks. Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz had a match-high 21 digs, marking the 14th 20-plus dig performance of her career. Freshman defensive specialist Kate Formico collected a career-high 16 digs.
Penn State had four players register double-digit kills and four notch double-digit digs. Seniors Simone Lee and Abby Detering each finished with 11 kills, while senior Ali Frantti tallied a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs.
It was the first loss for the Cardinal since a five-set setback to UCLA on Nov. 12, 2016. Stanford will get another look at Penn State as the two teams play again on Sept. 9.
Stanford will face Texas A&M on September 3 at 9 a.m. PT in Reed Arena. The match will be streamed on SEC Network (+).