Nov. 17, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Nov. 16, 2007 - The top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team secured at least a share of the Big Ten title Friday night with a four-game win (30-28, 30-22, 24-30, 30-25) over No. 9 Wisconsin at Rec Hall in front of 3,002 fans. The Nittany Lions (25-2, 17-0) will compete for their unprecedented fifth consecutive outright conference title and their 11th overall crown in 17 years Saturday night against Illinois at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall in their regular-season home finale. The Badgers fall to 22-4 and 14-3 in the conference, remaining in second place in the league.
"This was a match where neither team was great at the beginning," said head coach Russ Rose. "I thought Megan (Hodge) and Nicole (Fawcett) took some big swings and both Christa (Harmotto) and Arielle (Wilson) both played well. Wisconsin is a very talented team and they have great on-court senior leadership. I've enjoyed coaching against and watching their seniors play for four years. Overall, we played a little bit tentatively but we got the win."
Junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) led all players with 24 kills on .395 hitting as junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) and sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) each posted 15 kills, with Harmotto's coming on .448 hitting. Freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) tallied nine kills as redshirt freshman opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) posted seven kills. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .346 clip, including hitting .645 (21-1-31) in the second game.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 59 assists and added four kills and 10 digs for her ninth career double-double as Hodge led all players with a season-high 19 digs, one off her career mark. Junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) and senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) both added in six digs as Fawcett provided five.
Penn State racked up 14.0 team blocks as Wisconsin posted 7.5. Wilson set a new career high with a match-high 10 stuffs as Fawcett recorded five blocks and Harmotto and Brown each chipped in three.
Brittney Dolgner led Wisconsin with 20 kills as Katherine Dykstra posted 10. Jackie Simpson dished out 47 assists and Jocelyn Wack provided 15 digs as Taylor Reineke led the squad with seven blocks.
With the first game tied at 8-8, a Badger kill by Dolgner coupled with back to back DuPont aces helped put Wisconsin ahead 14-9. A Hodge kill halted the run, but the Badgers held on to the slim advantage, going up 19-15 aided by consecutive Lion errors. Following a Penn State timeout, Wilson responded with two kills and Hodge added another to pull the Nittany Lions within one at 19-18. Out of a Badger timeout, the teams traded kills four times before three consecutive Fawcett kills put Penn State on top, 25-23. Following another Wisconsin timeout, the teams traded errors and two Badger kills knotted the game at 26-26. A Fawcett kill and two Wisconsin hitting errors gave Penn State the 29-26 lead but two Jeffers kills brought the Badgers within one at 29-28. A Hodge kill out of a Lion timeout ended the game for Penn State, 30-28. Fawcett notched seven kills as Hodge racked up seven digs.
Game two remained close early on, with kills from Harmotto and Fawcett breaking the 10-10 stalemate to put Penn State up, 12-10. Wisconsin fought back to tie the game at 12-12 on two Dolgner kills and the teams traded points twice before a Fawcett kill, back to back Wilson putaways and a Badger attack error gave Penn State the 18-15 lead. After four exchanges of points, a Harmotto kill and a block by Fawcett and Harmotto put Penn State ahead 24-19. The Nittany Lions remained on top, taking the 28-21 lead on a Wilson kill before a solo Wilson stuff and a double block by Wilson and Hodge ended the game, 30-22. Five Lion players provided three or more kills, including Fawcett with six, Wilson and Harmotto with four each and Brown and Hodge with three apiece. Penn State attacked at a .645 clip in the stanza, recording 21 kills with only one error on 31 swings, also adding in four blocks.
The third game began much like the previous two, featuring 12 ties before a Wisconsin service error, a solo Fawcett block and a double block by Brown and Wilson put Penn State up, 16-13. But the Badgers fought back to knot the game at 16-16 on a Dolgner kill and consecutive Lion errors. The teams traded points before Wisconsin captured the 19-17 lead on a Simpson kill. The Badgers maintained the slight lead, going up 22-20 on a DuPont kill but a Harmotto kill quickly followed to pull the Lions within one at 20-21. The squads traded kills twice with a Wisconsin kill from Dykstra and a block by Dykstra and Reineke giving Wisconsin the 25-22 lead. Two Lion errors extended the Badger lead to 27-22 before a Wisconsin block and ace gave it the win, 30-24. Harmotto recorded seven kills on an errorless 11 attacks to hit .636 in the third game.
A Harmotto kill put Penn State up 12-10 in the fourth game and the Nittany Lions maintained the slim advantage, going ahead 15-12 on a Wilson kill. But two kills from Dolgner sparked a 5-0 Wisconsin run to swing the momentum to the Badgers and put them up 18-16. A Fawcett kill halted the run and the teams traded points four times before a Badger attack error and a Fawcett kill after an extended rally got the crowd on its feet and put Penn State back on top, 22-21. The Nittany Lions captured three of the next four points on two kills from Fawcett, one from Glass and a block by Wilson and Glass to go up 26-22 and force a Wisconsin timeout. Out of the break, the teams exchanged kills and errors, and a Badger block by Dolgner and Reineke pulled them within three at 28-25, but a Wisconsin attack error and a Fawcett service ace gave Penn State the game, 30-25. Fawcett racked up eight kills on .500 hitting in the fourth game as Hodge added five kills on .500 hitting and posted five digs as well.
The Nittany Lions close out the season at home on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m. at Rec Hall. Prior to the match, Kara Callahan, Maggie Case, Ann Naylor, Kate Price and Melissa Walbridge, along with team manager Chris Raney, will be honored for Senior Night, for their contributions to Penn State and the women's volleyball program.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com .