Sept. 15, 2007
NEW HAVEN, Conn., - The third-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team dropped a five-game heartbreaker to No. 2 Stanford (23-30, 30-23, 30-27, 28-30, 9-15) Saturday night in New Haven, Conn. The Nittany Lions fall to 8-2 while the Cardinal improve to 10-0.
Junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) led five Penn State players in double-digit kills with 28 as sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) recorded 20 kills. Redshirt freshman Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) tallied a career-high 12 kills as junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) recorded 11 kills on .421 hitting and freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) tallied a personal-best 10 kills.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out a career-high 69 assists and produced her sixth career double-double with 16 digs, just shy of her career high. Junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) led Penn state with a match-high 17 digs as Hodge tallied her 16th career double-double with 13 digs.
Penn State recorded nine team blocks to Stanford's 11, as Harmotto led the Lions with five stuffs and Wilson added four.
Cynthia Barboza led Stanford with 21 kills and Foluke Akinradewo posted 15 as Alix Klineman notched 14. Bryn Kehoe dished out 61 assists and also led the defense with 12 digs as Akinradewo produced a team-high four blocks.
Barboza was named the Most Valuable Player of the Yale Classic and joined Akinradewo, Harmotto, Hodge, Fawcett, Yale's Alexis Crusey and Delaware State's Ayana Dyette on the all-tournament team.
Stanford took the 4-2 lead to start the pivotal fifth game on kills from Klineman and Akinradewo. But a Cardinal service error and a Harmotto block knotted the game at 4-4. A Lion attack error and Hodge kill kept the game tied but Stanford scored three of the next four points to take the 8-6 lead into the side change. A Fawcett kill off the top of the block brought Penn State within one at 8-7 but Stanford answered with a kill from Waller to go up 9-7. A huge Cardinal block from Barboza and Waller gave Stanford the 10-7 advantage and forced a Penn State timeout. Out of the break, a Klineman kill out of the backrow pushed it to 11-7 before a Wilson kill that grazed the block brought the Lions within three at 11-8. Akinradewo answered with a kill for Stanford and a Penn State attack error put the Cardinal up 13-8 and forced a Nittany Lion timeout. Another kill from Akinradewo gave Stanford the 14-8 lead but a Cardinal attack error brought Penn State within five at 14-9. A Penn State service error ended the game, 15-9.
The match started out neck and neck, with kills from Glass and Fawcett and a Hodge ace tying the score at 5-5. Stanford pulled ahead on the strength of kills from Girard and Barboza before a Fawcett kill brought Penn State to within one at 9-8. The teams twice traded errors and Klineman and Brown exchanged kills before a Lion service error and a Kehoe ace put Stanford ahead 14-11. The squads traded points three times before Barboza kill and a Nittany Lion attack error gave the Cardinal the 19-14 lead and forced a Penn State timeout. Out of the break, Fawcett and Barboza traded kills and a Brown kill and a monster Harmotto and Hodge block brought Penn State to within four at 21-17. The teams traded points and a Klineman kill for Stanford was quickly followed by a Glass joust kill over Girard to bring the Lions to within 23-19. But a Cardinal kill and block by Girard and Waller pushed the Stanford lead to 25-19. A Fawcett kill trimmed the lead to five but a Barboza tip kill to the middle of the floor extended the Stanford lead back to six at 26-20. A Lion block by Glass and Wilson was answered by a monster Cardinal kill from Akinradewo and a Fawcett kill pulled Penn State to 27-22. But a Barboza kill and a Klineman overpass put-away made it 29-22 before a Wilson kill and a Barboza putaway ended the game in favor of Stanford, 30-23. Fawcett led the Lions with six kills on .417 hitting as Hodge added five kills. However, the Cardinal attacked at a .517 clip, led by Barboza with seven kills.
Game two was a slugfest from the beginning with the two teams dazzling the crowd with nine ties, monster kills and diving defense. Penn State went up 6-4 on a Wilson kill but a Lion service error, a Cardinal block by Akinradewo and Waller coupled with a Barboza kill and Penn State ball-handling error gave Stanford the 8-6 lead. Hodge and Akinradewo traded kills before a Harmotto kill and a block by Harmotto and Fawcett knotted the game at 9-9. A Barboza put-away was followed by two Fawcett kills and a Stanford attack error to give Penn State the 12-10 lead. The teams traded kills and a Cardinal kill and a Lion attack error tied the game at 13-13. Fawcett and Waller traded kills and a Penn State block from Wilson and Brown, coupled with a Brown kill, gave the Nittany Lions the 16-14 lead. But two Penn State errors again tied the game before a Stanford service error and a Harmotto and Glass block put the Lions ahead 18-16. A Barboza kill brought the Cardinal within one but Hodge and Fawcett kills pushed Penn State up 20-17 and forced a Stanford timeout. Out of the break the Cardinal responded with a kill but a Harmotto slide kill and a Fawcett kill following a great dig from senior Ann Naylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) coupled with two Stanford attack errors gave Penn State the 24-18 lead. Kills from Wilson, Fawcett and Glass along with a block by Fawcett and Wilson made it 27-20 in favor of the Lions. Stanford scored the next three points on a Girard kill, Lion attack error and an ace before a Fawcett kill and a Hodge overpass kill ended the game, 30-23. Fawcett led Penn State with 10 kills in the stanza as the Lions attacked at a .353 clip while holding Stanford to .077 hitting, aided by four blocks.
Kills from Hodge and Fawcett, a Harmotto ace and a block by Glass and Wilson gave Penn State the 7-5 lead to start the third game. The squads traded points twice, with a Fawcett kill off the block maintaining the 9-7 lead. Wilson and Girard traded kills and kills from Brown, Harmotto and Hodge forced a Stanford timeout with Penn State leading 13-8. Cardinal kills from Barboza and Klineman out of the break trimmed the Lion lead to 13-10 but a Harmotto kill made it 14-10. The squads traded points before a Klineman kill and Lion attack error brought Stanford within two at 15-13. The Cardinal returned the favor with an error of their own and following an Akinradewo kill, Penn State responded with two Fawcett kills and a Wilson put-away to go up 19-14. Two Cardinal kills and a block by Waller and Janet Okogbaa trimmed the score to 19-17 and two Brown kills and a block by Harmotto and Hodge helped Penn State take the 23-19 lead. Following a Stanford timeout, Akinradewo and Hodge traded kills and a Cardinal attack error put the Nittany Lions up 25-20 before an Akinradewo kill and a block by Kehoe and Akinradewo trimmed the Lion lead to three at 25-22. A Harmotto kill pushed the cushion back to four but two Stanford kills trimmed the lead to 26-24 and forced a Penn State timeout. Out of the break, a Lion attack error brought the Cardinal to within one at 26-25 and Fawcett and Okogbaa exchanged kills before a Lion attack error knotted the score at 27-27. But a monster Fawcett kill fired the squad up and a Wilson kill and Stanford attack error gave Penn State the game, 30-27. Fawcett led the way with seven kills as Harmotto and Hodge each recorded four.
The fourth game featured 19 ties and five lead changes as the teams traded blows. Kills from Fawcett and Harmotto and a solo block by Wilson kept the game even before a Nittany Lion ball-handling error and a Stanford kill from Waller put the Cardinal up 10-8. Two Brown kills and a Hodge block helped even the score at 11-11 and kills from Fawcett and Brown helped keep the score tied at 13-13. Stanford went up 18-16 on kills from Akinradewo and Barboza before two Hodge kills knotted the game at 19-19. The squads traded points three times before two Barboza kills gave Stanford the 24-22 edge. Following a Penn State timeout, a Wilson slide kill and a Stanford attack error again tied the game at 24-24 but two Nittany Lion errors put the Cardinal up 26-24. Two Wilson kills out of a Penn State timeout evened the score at 26-26 but a Lion service error and Stanford block by Barboza and Akinradewo gave Stanford the 26-28 lead. A Hodge kill was followed by a Penn State service error to put the Cardinal up 29-27. Another Hodge shot down the line brought the Lions to within one at 29-28 but an Akinradewo kill gave Stanford the game, 30-28.
The Nittany Lions open up the Big Ten season at home next weekend, hosting Michigan State and Northwestern on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22 at 7:00 p.m. each night at Rec Hall.