Sept. 15, 2007
Final Stats | Final Stats(PDF)
NEW HAVEN, Conn., - The third-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team used a season-high 17 blocks to defeat Delaware State in three games (30-12, 30-10, 30-17) Saturday afternoon in New Haven, Conn. With the win, head coach Russ Rose is just one win shy of becoming only the third Division I coach to reach 900 wins for his career.
The Nittany Lions now face No. 2 Stanford tonight at 7:00 p.m. Gametracker and live video will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com .
Sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) led the Nittany Lions with a career-high eight blocks as junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) and freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) each posted seven blocks, a career-high-tying mark for Wilson. Redshirt freshman Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) added in three blocks as sophomore Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) and senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) both notched two.
Hodge also led Penn State with 13 kills as Harmotto posted 11 on .714 hitting. Wilson recorded six kills on .417 hitting as senior Melissa Walbridge (Yardley, Pa.) and junior Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) each posted five kills on an errorless six swings to hit .833 in one game of action. Brown chipped in four kills as Glass contributed three put-aways. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .488 clip for the match, including hitting .650 in the second game.
Glass directed the offense with 34 assists and junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) led the defense with 10 digs as freshman Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) tallied eight digs and Glass posted seven. D'Errico also led the way with a career-high three service aces as Fawcett, Glass, Hodge and Holehouse all added one.
Ayana Dyette led Delaware State with seven kills as Cassandra Joyner notched five kills.
Penn State opened the match on a 7-0 run encompassing kills from Price, Walbridge and Fawcett, a block by Fawcett and Walbridge and a Glass ace. The Nittany Lions went up 10-1 on a Walbridge-Hodge block and a Fawcett ace and 19-9 on four consecutive Fawcett put-aways. Following a Delaware State kill, kills from Walbridge and Brown made it 21-10 and another kill from Hodge sparked a 7-0 Nittany Lion run, including three blocks - two from Harmotto and Brown and another from Harmotto and Hodge - to go up 29-11, before a Hornet attack error ended the game, 30-12. Penn State attacked at a .548 clip in the first game (20-3-31) with Harmotto perfect on all four attacks and Fawcett and Walbridge both posted five kills on an errorless six attacks to hit .833.
Two Hodge kills and a block by Price and Wilson put Penn State ahead 3-0 and a Harmotto overpass kill made it 8-4 in game two before a Wilson kill off a dig from senior Kara Callahan (Bloomington, Ill.) gave the Nittany Lions the 11-5 lead. Kills from Wilson and Hodge sparked a 9-0 Penn State run that included two D'Errico aces to put the Nittany Lions ahead 21-7. Another run, this one 8-0 and started by a Hodge kill and Harmotto solo block, gave Penn State the 29-8 lead before a Harmotto kill ended the game, 30-10. Penn State attacked at a .650 clip (15-2-30) while holding Delaware State to hitting .000, and also recorded five blocks in the stanza.
A Wilson-Hodge block gave the Nittany Lions the 5-2 lead in the third game before a Harmotto overpass kill and a Hodge and Harmotto block put Penn State up 11-4. Lion kills from Brown, Glass and Hodge, coupled with a Hodge ace, extended the score to 15-6 and a Brown kill made it 19-11. A Wilson kill, D'Errico ace and two Hodge kills coupled with a Hodge-Wilson block gave Penn State the 24-12 lead and an overpass kill from sophomore Kelsey Ream (State College, Pa.) made it 28-15 before a Ream and Glass block ended the game, 30-17.
Penn State closes out action in the Yale Classic tonight at 7:00 p.m. when it faces No. 2 Stanford. Gametracker and live video will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com. 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.