Sept. 29, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The third-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team swept Purdue (30-18, 30-20, 38-36) Saturday night in West Lafayette, Ind. The Nittany Lions improve to 12-2 and 4-0 in the Big Ten as the Boilermakers fall to 9-6 and 2-2 in conference action.
Junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) led three Penn State players in double-digit kills with 14 as sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) notched 13 kills and freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) tied her career high with 10 kills. Junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) recorded eight kills on .500 hitting as redshirt freshman opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) notched seven kills, also on .500 hitting.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) directed the Nittany Lion offense with 47 assists as senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) recorded a team-high 11 digs as Hodge and junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) each provided nine digs and Glass posted five. Hodge also led all players with three aces as Price notched one.
Penn State outblocked Purdue 12.0 to 7.0, led by Wilson with a career-high-tying eight blocks, including two solo efforts. Harmotto and Brown each recorded four stuffs as Hodge notched three and Fawcett posted two.
Samantha Mader led Purdue with 13 kills as Stephanie Lynch notched nine and Carrie Gurnell recorded eight. Sam Gray and Jaclyn Hart dished out 23 and 12 assists, respectively, as libero Kelli Miller led all players with 14 digs. Lynch topped the squad with four blocks.
Purdue took the 8-6 lead to start the match on a Mader kill and a block but a Fawcett kill and strong serving from Glass aided Penn State in going on an 8-0 run encompassing three blocks by Wilson and Brown and two Brown kills. With the Nittany Lions up 14-8, a Fawcett kill off the block, a block by Wilson and Hodge and a Hodge kill extended the lead to 17-10 as a Hodge ace pushed it to 20-12. Penn State remained in control, with Wilson and Fawcett kills giving the Nittany Lions the 24-14 lead and a Hodge putaway extending the advantage to 26-17. Following a Boilermaker kill, Lion kills from Wilson and Harmotto and blocks from Harmotto and Wilson and another from Hodge and Harmotto gave Penn State the game, 30-18. The Nittany Lions racked up six team blocks in the game as Wilson individually posted four.
The Boilermakers again jumped out to the early lead, going ahead 6-2 before Penn State fought back to even the score at 7-7 on a Hodge kill and ace. The teams traded points three times and two Purdue errors aided the Lions in going up 12-10. A Hodge kill down the line put Penn State ahead 14-11 and a Harmotto slide kill and a block from Harmotto and Fawcett extended the score to 17-14. A Hodge service ace after a Purdue timeout continued the run and coupled with two Boilermaker errors and a Fawcett kill, Penn State grabbed the 21-14 lead. Purdue claimed three of the next four points to pull within five at 22-17 but two Wilson kills helped the Nittany Lions maintain the lead at 24-18. The teams traded kills twice before a Harmotto kill to make it 26-20 sparked a 5-0 Nittany Lion run to close out the game, 30-20. Penn State attacked at a .500 clip in the game as four players recorded three or more kills in the stanza.
The third game featured eight ties as the score reached 15-15 and Purdue went up 18-15 on a block, kill and Lion error. A Wilson kill and another block by Wilson and Brown pulled Penn State within one at 18-17 and following a Purdue kill, a solo Wilson stuff brought the Lions close at 19-18. The teams traded points three times before two Boilermaker kills put them up 24-21 and forced a Penn State timeout. Out of the break, a Fawcett kill trimmed the deficit to two at 24-22 but two Purdue kills extended its lead to 26-22. Following a Lion timeout, a Hodge kill out of the backrow and a block by Wilson and Fawcett pulled Penn State within two at 26-24 and forced a Purdue timeout. A Boilermaker kill off the Penn State block was quickly followed by a Purdue service error and ball-handling error to bring the Nittany Lions within one at 26-27. Out of another Boilermaker timeout, a Penn State service error and solo Lynch block put Purdue up 29-26 before a Hodge kill deflected off the defender to bring the Lions within two at 29-27. A Boilermaker attack that sailed wide and a Harmotto and Hodge block knotted the game at 29-29. The squads traded service errors and a Purdue attack that went wide put Penn State up 31-30 but a Boilermaker block from Gray and Lynch again tied the game at 31-31. The teams exchanged errors and kills before a Lion attack that went long gave Purdue game point at 34-33. But two Fawcett kills swung the momentum in favor of Penn State, 35-34, but Merlau responded with two kills to put Purdue up 36-35. A Fawcett kill again tied the game, 36-36, and a Boilermaker attack error and a block by Wilson and Price block ended the game, 38-36.
Penn State returns home to host Iowa and Minnesota next weekend at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes square off on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m. before the Nittany Lions meet the Golden Gophers on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET.