Oct. 5, 2007
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The third-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team remained undefeated in Big Ten action, sweeping Iowa (30-23, 30-15, 30-24) Friday night at Rec Hall in front of 2,839 fans. The Nittany Lions improve to 13-2 overall and 5-0 in conference action while the Hawkeyes fall to 9-7 and 1-4 in league play. Penn State will face another Big Ten unbeaten, No. 11 Minnesota, Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. at Rec Hall.
Junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) led all players with 18 kills on .351 hitting as freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) continued her hot play, recording a career-high 13 kills on .400 hitting. Sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) notched 11 kills as junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) provided seven kills in two games of action and redshirt freshman opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) tallied five kills.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 44 assists while Hodge led all players with a season-high 18 digs and junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) picked up 13 digs, with each player also providing two service aces.
Wilson fell just shy of her first collegiate double-double as she tallied a career-high nine blocks as Brown added three and Glass and Hodge each notched two.
For Iowa, Laura Kremer and Megan Schipper each recorded eight kills as Stacy Vitali notched four put aways. Kiley Fister directed the offense with 17 assists and Emily Hiza recorded eight digs as Kremer topped the team with six blocks.
The first game stayed even early on, with a Fawcett kill giving Penn State the 12-8 lead. A Brown kill maintained the Lion four-point advantage and put-aways from Harmotto and Fawcett put Penn State up 21-15 and forced an Iowa timeout. The teams traded points and a Harmotto service ace and kills from Wilson and Hodge made it 25-16 before a Fawcett kill extended the lead to 26-19 and a Wilson kill ended the game, 30-23. Fawcett racked up seven kills in the stanza as the Nittany Lions attacked at a .359 clip for the game.
A Fawcett kill put Penn State up 3-2 to start the second game before the Nittany Lions went on a 12-0 run fueled by strong short serving from Glass, three blocks and two Wilson kills. With Penn State ahead 15-2, the Nittany Lions added to the total on back to back Holehouse aces to make the score 19-4. A kill from senior middle hitter Melissa Walbridge (Yardley, Pa.) pushed the lead to 24-10 before a Hodge kill ended the game, 30-15. The Hawkeyes recorded only five total kills in the game as Fawcett led the Lions with five and Wilson provided four blocks.
Iowa jumped out early in the third game, going up 11-7 on a kill from Schipper. A Hawkeye block by Kremer, Eskew and Fister pushed their lead to 14-9 before a Wilson kill and block by Wilson and Hodge pulled Penn State to within two at 15-13. Iowa responded with a block of its own by Fister and Kremer but consecutive kills from Hodge and Wilson and a double block from the duo knotted the game at 16-16. The teams traded kills and a Hodge ace and Glass and Wilson block made it 19-17 in favor of the Lions. Three Penn State errors in the next four points again tied the game at 20-20 but three Fawcett kills aided the Nittany Lions in taking the 24-21 advantage. Two Hawkeye errors pushed Penn State up 26-21 and a Hodge kill made it 28-24 before a Wilson kill ended the game, 30-24. Wilson recorded seven kills in the game as Hodge and Fawcett each tallied six.
Penn State continues play at home this weekend, hosting No. 11 Minnesota, who, like the Nittany Lions, is undefeated in Big Ten action at 5-0. The Golden Gophers defeated Ohio State in five games Friday night in Columbus, Ohio. Gametracker and a free live webstream will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.