Panna Ratkai Joins 1,000-Kill Club in 3-1 Victory Over YSU

Friday, November 15

Fort Wayne, Ind.

7 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

16-14,9-8Horizon

Youngstown State

9-20,3-14Horizon

Youngstown St.

Purdue Fort Wayne

Panna Ratkai

Photo by: Kamryn Heckman

Panna Ratkai Joins 1,000-Kill Club in 3-1 Victory Over YSU

11/15/2024 10:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Panna Ratkai became the 16th member of the Purdue Fort Wayne 1,000-kill club on Friday night (Nov. 15), helping the Mastodons beat Youngstown State 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19) on the Arnie Ball Court.

Ratkai is the first Mastodon to reach the 1,000-kill milestone since Katie Crowe did in 2020. She is the only active sophomore in the country with over 1,000 in her career. She needed 14 entering the night, crossing that threshold in the third set at the 17-16 mark. She finished the match with 23 kills, her most in a four-set match in league play. She was relatively efficient, hitting .271, while adding 13 digs for a double-double.

1,000 kills in under two years! Congratulations to Panna Ratkai!!!#FeelTheRumble #HLVB pic.twitter.com/HrxPbRgdSa
— Purdue Fort Wayne WVB (@MastodonWVB) November 16, 2024

After a slow start offensively in set one, the Mastodons flipped into high gear for sets two and three. YSU took set one 25-23 despite the 'Dons hitting just .111. A set later, however, the Mastodons hit .351, yielding only three errors on 37 swings. They also sided out on over 70 percent of points, a trend that continued for the rest of the night. The 'Dons led 19-18 late in the second set before Ratkai had a kill that started a 6-3 stretch over the final nine points. LonDynn Betts and Mya Plemons both had an ace in the run, with Plemons' being the set-winner.

Even with a .306 hitting clip in set three, the Mastodons never really pulled away. Ratkai had eight of her 23 kills in the third, taking just 16 swings to do it. It was a 23-23 tie late before Ratkai had a kill then Iris Riegel and Jena Medearis combined for a block to win the set.

There was a bit more room for comfort in set four after the Mastodons jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the Penguins. YSU got it back within one at the 14-13 mark, but Ratkai had four kills in the next five points to give Purdue Fort Wayne the advantage to coast to victory. On match point, Becky Barrett had one of the seven Mastodon aces to seal the match.

Riley Rosneck was a key complement to Ratkai, finishing with 14 kills. Taya Haffner dished out 36 assists and Nicole Jones had 13. Betts had 21 digs and Barrett had 10.

YSU got 19 kills out of Abbie Householder.

Purdue Fort Wayne improves to 16-14, 9-8 in the Horizon League, while Youngstown State falls to 9-20, 3-14. These two teams will meet again on Saturday at 3 p.m. Prior to the contest, there will be a Senior Day ceremony for Jones, Haffner and Abby Stratford.

~ Feel the Rumble ~