Sept. 7, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The third-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team topped St. John's in three games (30-20, 30-14, 30-17) Friday night in front of 4,620 people at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improve to 4-1 while the Red Storm fall to 9-2.
"It was a good effort from a number of people," said head coach Russ Rose. "We had the chance to play a variety of players and I thought they did a nice job. When we have a nice crowd at home, the players know they have to come out and play hard."
Fifteen Nittany Lion players saw action in the match, as the offense was led by sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) with 18 kills on a season-high .556 hitting percentage (18-3-27). Junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) posted 14 kills on .333 hitting as junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) notched nine kills on .533 hitting. Freshman Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) tallied six kills on an errorless nine swings to hit .667 in her first collegiate match. As a team, Penn State attacked at a season-high .438 clip while holding St. John's to hitting .021.
Sophomore setter Jessica Yanz (Bolingbrook, Ill.) dished out a career-high 35 assists as Hodge led the defense with nine digs. Freshman Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) saw her first career start at libero, recording six digs as senior outside hitter Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) also recorded six digs. Yanz contributed five, Fawcett posted four and Harmotto, senior Ann Naylor (Los Angeles, Calif.), junior Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.), sophomore Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) and freshman Michele Osterrieder (Pittsburgh, Pa.) all added in one dig.
Penn State outblocked St. John's 12.5 to 2.0, led by Harmotto with five, Fawcett with four, Hodge and sophomore Kelsey Ream (State College, Pa.) with three each and Price and Wilson with two apiece. Yanz, Glass, senior middle hitter Melissa Walbridge (Yardley, Pa.) and redshirt freshman Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) all also recorded one block in the contest.
Dana DeMayo led St. John's with seven kills as Hui Ping Huang and Latoya Blunt chipped in six kills. Wioleta Leszczynska directed the offense with 25 assists as Lena Yee recorded 10 digs. Valeria Kovaleva topped the blocking chart with two blocks.
Penn State jumped out to the early 7-2 lead behind a Fawcett, Harmotto and Yanz block, a Harmotto kill and a Hodge ace. The Nittany Lions maintained the advantage, going up 19-12 on a Fawcett kill and 22-13 on a Walbridge block. Following a St. John's timeout, kills from Glass and Hodge extended the lead to 25-16. Two Fawcett kills ended the game, 30-20.
The second game started off even early on but back to back Lion blocks, one from Wilson and Price and another one from Harmotto and Price, to put Penn State up 11-7. A Harmotto kill and Glass service ace pushed the lead to 16-8 and a Brown kill and a block by Fawcett and Wilson extended the score to 20-10. The Nittany Lions remained in control, going up 25-13 on a Wilson kill before kills from Hodge and Harmotto ended the game, 30-14.
The Nittany Lions took a commanding lead to begin the third game, going up 13-5, aided by four consecutive Lion kills from Hodge, Fawcett and Yanz. Two blocks by Ream and Hodge pushed the score to 18-6 before another Ream and Brown stuff extended the lead to 20-11. A Wilson kill made it 24-14 and a Glass kill pushed the score to 26-16 before a Harmotto and Glass block and a Hodge kill ended the game 30-17.
Saturday morning play in the Penn State Classic opens up at 9:00 a.m. with the Nittany Lions taking on Colgate and continues at 11:00 p.m. with St. John's and Colgate before Penn State faces Virginia Commonwealth at 2:00 p.m. to close out action in the tournament.