Sept. 28, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Sept. 22, 2007 - The third-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team swept Indiana (30-19, 30-22, 30-22) Friday night in Bloomington, Ind. The Nittany Lions improve to 11-2 and 3-0 in conference play while the Hoosiers fall to 10-5 and 1-2 in league action.
Sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) led all players with 15 kills as redshirt freshman Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) contributed eight kills on .429 hitting and freshman Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) racked up eight kills on an errorless nine attacks to hit a career-high .889.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 30 assists and junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) produced 12 digs as senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) tallied eight digs and junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) notched seven digs.
Penn State outblocked Indiana 17.0 to 9.5. Brown and Wilson each racked up eight blocks, a career high mark for Brown. Junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) posted six blocks as Hodge added four and Fawcett provided three. Through three Big Ten matches, the Nittany Lions are averaging 16 blocks per match and 5.33 blocks per game.
The first game remained close early on, with a Brown solo block and an Indiana attack error putting Penn State ahead 11-9. A Hoosier kill from Short was quickly followed by consecutive Brown kills to give the Nittany Lions the 13-10 edge. Back to back Hodge putaways coupled with a block by Glass and Harmotto extended the Penn State advantage to 16-13 and a Harmotto kill made it 19-15. A Fawcett kill sparked a 4-0 run encompassing a Brown and Walbridge block to put the Lions ahead 23-16 and a Harmotto kill and Holehouse ace made it 27-18 before two Hodge kills ended the game, 30-19.
Two Penn State blocks, one from Harmotto and Brown and another from Harmotto and Hodge put the Nittany Lions ahead 4-2 to start the second game. Kills from Brown and Hodge made it 6-4 and a Fawcett and Wilson block made it 10-6 before kills from Glass and Wilson and three consecutive Penn State blocks - two from Brown and Wilson and another from Wilson and Fawcett - put the Nittany Lions ahead 15-8. The Hoosiers scored four of the next five points to pull within four at 16-12 but an Indiana service error, a block by Brown and Harmotto and a Brown rollshot kill to the middle of the floor put Penn State back on top, 19-12. Following a Hoosier putaway, a Hodge and Harmotto block, two Hodge kills and a Price service ace gave Penn State the 23-13 lead. Another Hodge kill made it 25-16 before a Fawcett kill, an Indiana attack error and a block by Wilson and Yanz made it 28-18 and a Brown kill ended the game, 30-22. Penn State recorded nine team blocks in the game.
A Hodge kill and a Hodge and Harmotto block gave Penn State the 5-4 lead to begin the third game. Another block, this one from Fawcett and Harmotto, pushed the score to 8-5 and a Harmotto ace made it 11-6. A Hodge putaway and two Indiana attack errors extended the Lion lead to 15-7 before a Wilson solo block and a double block from Wilson and Brown made it 17-10. But Indiana fought back to score six of the next eight points to pull within 19-16. Kills from Brown and Fawcett gave the Nittany Lions the 21-16 cushion and two Indiana errors extended the Penn State lead to 23-18. The teams traded kills and two more Hoosier errors gave the Nittany Lions the 26-19 advantage. An Indiana block brought the Hoosiers within six at 26-20 but a Wilson kill and two Indiana errors made it 29-20 before a Brown kill ended the game, 30-22.
The Nittany Lions remain on the road, facing Purdue on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 8:00 p.m. in West Lafayette, Ind. Gametracker will be available for the match at www.GoPSUsports.com . Penn State returns home to host Iowa and Minnesota next weekend at Rec Hall.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com .