Oct. 19, 2007
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Oct 19, 2007  The second-ranked Penn State women¹s volleyball team racked up 25 team blocks in outlasting Illinois in five games (30-28, 30-25, 19-30, 28-30, 15-10) Friday night at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill. The Nittany Lions improve to 17-2 and remain undefeated in the Big Ten at 9-0 while the Fighting Illini fall to 12-7 and 4-5 in league action.
Penn State tied a Huff Hall record with 25 total blocks in the contest as sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) set a new Nittany Lion single-match record with 14 blocks and junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) set a new season high with 12 stuffs. Freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) tied her career high with nine blocks as redshirt freshman Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) notched five stuffs.
Sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) led the Lions with 23 kills as junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) contributed 19 and Harmotto contributed 11 kills on .400 hitting. The Nittany Lions outhit the Fighting Illini .226 to .218 but Illinois recorded more total kills, 82-65.
Glass dished out 51 assists as junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) led all players with 20 digs as Hodge collected her 20th career double-double and her eight of the year with 12 digs, while senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) notched 10 digs.
Laura DeBruler led Illinois with 27 kills as Stefanie Alde provided 20, Vicki Brown tallied 16 and Nicole Kump posted 10. Lizzie Bazzetta dished out 69 assists and Kristine Anderson led the team with 18 digs. Brown and Bangert each posted three blocks in the contest. Illinois outdug Penn State 82-54 in the match.
The Fighting Illini struck first in the decisive fifth game, going up 2-0 on consecutive DeBruler kills. Brown responded with a kill for the Lions and an Illini attack error tied the game at 2-2. A Harmotto slide kill gave Penn State the lead and a Glass and Harmotto block made it 4-2. Another DeBruler kill off the block pulled Illinois within one at 4-3 and another monster block by Glass and Harmotto pushed the Lions up 5-3. Out of an Illini timeout, an Illinois attack error and Lion block by Harmotto and Glass, their third of the game, put Penn State up 7-3. A Lion service error and Illinois kill from Alde brought the Fighting Illini within two at 7-5 but a Fawcett kill off the block made it 8-5. The teams traded kills and a Fawcett solo block gave Penn State the 10-6 advantage. Another Alde kill pulled Illinois within three at 10-7 but a Fawcett rollshot kill to the middle of the floor put the Lions up 11-7. An Illini attack error and Lion block by Hodge and Wilson put Penn State ahead 13-7 before an Illinois kill from Brown pulled the Illini within five at 13-8. A Brown and Wilson block gave the Nittany Lions match point at 14-8 but Illinois held fast, providing consecutive blocks to force a Penn State timeout at 14-10. A Harmotto slide kill out of the break gave the Lions the match, 15-10.
Illinois jumped out to an early lead to start the match, going up 8-3 aided by six kills. But Penn State chipped away at the deficit, with kills from Fawcett and Harmotto and a Hodge service ace bringing the Lions to within one at 9-8. The teams traded points and an Illini attack error and a Glass and Wilson block gave Penn State the 11-10 lead. An Illinois kill evened the score and the squads traded points several times, with a Harmotto and Brown block coupled with a Holehouse service ace making the Nittany Lion lead one at 16-15. And Illini kill knotted the game at 16-16 and the teams exchanged points before an Illinois service ace off the tape and two kills gave the squad the 20-17 lead. A Harmotto and Glass block brought the Lions within two but Illinois maintained the slim lead, taking the 25-23 advantage on a kill. A Hodge putaway and an Illinois attack error evened the game at 25-25. Following an Illinois timeout, a Hodge block put Penn State up 26-25 and the teams traded kills before an Illini attack error gave the Lions the 28-26 lead. After exchanging kills, an Illini putaway trimmed the Lion lead to one at 29-28 before a Fawcett kill gave Penn State the game, 30-28. Fawcett recorded six kills and Hodge added five as the Lions recorded five team blocks in the stanza.
Penn State racked up four of its first seven points on blocks to take the 7-4 lead to start the second game but Illinois fought back to tie the game at 9-9 on back to back kills. Hodge and Brown kills gave the Nittany Lions the 13-10 lead but again the Illini evened the score at 14-14 on a service ace. The teams traded points and a Harmotto and Glass block put Penn State on top, 16-15. A Glass solo stuff made it 18-15 and Fawcett and Hodge kills aided the Lions in going ahead 21-19 before a Harmotto overpass kill put Penn State up 23-20 and forced an Illinois timeout. Out of the break, the Illini scored three of the next four points to pull within one at 24-23 before Hodge and Harmotto kills pushed the Lion lead to 26-23. Two Illinois attack errors and another Glass and Harmotto block made it 29-23 before a Fawcett kill ended the game, 30-25. Hodge recorded six kills in the game as Fawcett chipped in five and Harmotto added four. Glass provided six blocks in the second game alone, falling just shy of her career high mark (7) in just one game of action.
A Wilson and Brown block and back to back Wilson overpass kills put Pen State up 7-6 in the third game. But the Fighting Illini scored the next four points to take the 10-7 lead. A Brown kill halted the run and the teams traded points before consecutive Illinois kills put it ahead 13-9. Following a Harmotto kill, Illinois rattled off three consecutive kills to take the 16-10 lead and force a Penn State timeout. Out of the break, the teams traded service errors and Illinois caught fire, taking four of the next five points on three kills and a service ace to go up 21-12 and force another Nittany Lion timeout. Out of the break, the teams traded points twice before a Hodge kill pulled Penn State within eight at 23-15. But Illinois claimed the next two points on an overpass kill and a Lion attack error to go ahead 25-15 and after exchanging scores again, a Harmotto and Hodge block brought Penn State within nine at 26-17. But the Fighting Illini remained in control, taking four of the next six points to claim the game, 30-19 on an Alde kill. Illinois attacked at a .421 clip in the game.
Illinois picked up where it left off in the fourth game, taking the 11-6 lead on a kill and block. Two Hodge kills and a Harmotto and Glass block pulled Penn State to within three at 13-10 but a Fighting Illini kill and ace gave them the 15-10 lead. The teams traded kills and Lion putaways from Glass and Fawcett trimmed the Illinois lead to three at 16-13. But again Illinois responded with a kill and an ace to go up 18-13 and force a Penn State timeout. An Illini service error coupled with a monster block by Glass and Wilson pulled the Lions within three at 18-15. The teams traded points and a Hodge putaway brought Penn State within two at 19-17. The squads exchanged kills and consecutive Illinois attack errors tied the game at 20-20. After another exchange of kills, two Illini putaways put them up 23-21 but a Harmotto slide kill and a huge Glass solo block knotted the game at 23-23. Following an Illinois kill, Glass provided another monster solo block and senior Ann Naylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) contributed a service ace to give Penn State the 25-24 lead. But out of an Illinois timeout, the Fighting Illini stormed back with two kills and aided by a Lion attack error, grabbed the 27-25 lead. Out of a Penn State timeout, Fawcett provided a kill but Illinois responded with a kill of its own to go up 28-26. An Illinois service error and a back-row block by the setter knotted the game at 28-28 before a Lion service error and a Fighting Illini block by Kump and Brown gave Illinois the game, 30-28. Hodge led the Lions with eight kills in the game as the team provided five blocks.
Penn State remains on the road, taking on No. 8 Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1:00 p.m. CT in a match that will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 4:00 p.m. CT (5:00 p.m. ET) that same day.
For more information on the Penn State women¹s volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.