Oct. 27, 2007
IOWA CITY, Iowa, Oct 27, 2007 - The second-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team downed Iowa in three games (30-15, 30-23, 30-25) Saturday night in Iowa City, Iowa. The Nittany Lions improve to 20-2 and 12-0 in the Big Ten while the Hawkeyes fall to 9-14 overall and 1-11 in conference action. With the win, Penn State secures its 31st consecutive 20-win season.
Redshirt freshman opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) pounded a career-high 17 kills on .739 hitting as sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) notched 15 kills, junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) tallied 12 kills and junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) posted 10 kills. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .328 clip while holding Iowa to hitting .089, and the Nittany Lions collected 60 kills to the Hawkeyes' 31.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 48 assists as junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) tallied a match-high and season-best-tying 22 digs. Fawcett collected her fourth career double-double with 10 digs as Hodge notched eight and Glass added seven.
Penn State outblocked Iowa, 13.0 to 6.0, led by Harmotto with seven and Brown with six. Hodge added in three stuffs while Glass, freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) and senior middle hitter Melissa Walbridge (Yardley, Pa.) all recorded two blocks.
The Nittany Lions also tallied four service aces, with Harmotto, Holehouse, senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) and senior Kara Callahan (Bloomington, Ill.) each recording one.
Catherine Smale led Iowa with nine kills as Laura Kremer posted seven. Kiley Fister dished out 23 assists and Emily Hiza topped the squad with 17 digs. Fister and Aimee Huffman each notched three blocks.
A Brown and Harmotto block put Penn State up 4-3 to start the match and another block, this one from Hodge and Wilson, extended the lead to 11-8. A Harmotto kill and Price ace put the Lions up 16-10 and two Harmotto putaways aided Penn State going up 18-12. Two Fawcett kills, a Glass putaway and a Brown rollshot kill to the middle of the floor pushed the score to 24-13. Following a Nittany Lion service error, Penn State scored six of the next seven points, with three points coming on two Brown kills and a solo block, to take the game, 30-15. The Nittany Lions attacked at a .500 clip in the game, led by Brown with six kills on .750 hitting and Harmotto with five kills on .833 hitting.
Penn State went up 8-2 to start the second game, aided by consecutive solo blocks by Harmotto and Hodge. Back to back Fawcett kills made it 11-4 and consecutive putaways from Wilson and Hodge pushed the score to 15-6. Iowa scored three of the next four points to pull within six at 16-10 but two Hawkeye attack errors pushed the Lions back up 19-11. Iowa claimed the next four points on two Penn State errors and two kills to close the gap to four at 19-15 but a Harmotto kill halted the run and put the Lions up 20-15. A Brown kill and a block by Brown and Wilson extended Penn State's advantage to 23-18 before a Brown kill made it 25-21 and following an Iowa kill, Harmotto and Hodge putaways forced a Hawkeye timeout at 27-22. A Harmotto and Glass block out of the break made it 28-22 before a Fawcett kill ended the game, 30-23.
The third game remained close, with kills from Brown and Hodge knotting the score at 10-10. Back to back overpass kills from Hodge and Harmotto put the Lions ahead 13-12 and a Harmotto kill made it 18-16. A Lion error and Hawkeye block tied the game at 18-18 before a Fawcett kill and an ace from senior Kara Callahan (Bloomington, Ill.) gave Penn State the 20-18 lead. Following an Iowa kill from Smale, kills from Fawcett and Walbridge along with a Brown and Walbridge block put the Nittany Lions on top, 23-19. The teams traded kills twice, with a Brown kill putting Penn State ahead 25-21. Another Brown kill extended it to 27-22 but an Iowa kill and ace aided the Hawkeyes in pulling within four at 28-24. A Hodge kill was followed by an Iowa putaway and another Hodge kill, this one out of the backrow, ended the game, 30-25.
Friday's match between the Penn State and Minnesota will air on ESPN2 on a tape-delay basis on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.