Nov. 3, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Nov. 3, 2007 -- The top-ranked Penn State women¹s volleyball team pounded Indiana in three games (30-14, 30-16, 30-23) Saturday night at Rec Hall in front of a season-high crowd of 5,011. The Nittany Lions improve to 22-2 and 14-0 in the Big Ten while the Hoosiers fall to 14-12 and 5-9 in league action.
"What a great crowd and a fun night," said head coach Russ Rose. "We played well and there was a great energy in the building. Purdue played well last night and then we got our serving game going. Tonight we just overwhelmed Indiana. How (Indiana) played tonight isn¹t a reflection of the season they are having. I thought Nicole (Fawcett) had a great serving weekend and it¹s good for our team to have a good defensive match like they did tonight."
Sophomore outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) led all players with 15 kills on .464 hitting as junior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) posted 14 kills on .375 hitting. Junior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) and redshirt freshman opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) each contributed seven kills, with Harmotto¹s coming on .455 hitting and Brown¹s coming on .636 hitting. Freshman middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) notched five kills on an errorless 11 attacks to hit .455 as senior middle hitter Melissa Walbridge (Yardley, Pa.) recorded four kills in one game of action. As a team, Penn State hit .439, including attacking at a .526 clip in the second game.
Sophomore setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) provided 39 assists and added her eighth career double-double with 11 digs. Junior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) pulled up a match-high 16 digs as Hodge added in eight and senior Kate Price (Fraser, Mich.) posted six. The Nittany Lions outdug the Hoosiers 50-29 for the match.
Penn State dominated the serving game, racking up a season-high-tying 11 service aces, including seven in the first game. Fawcett set a new career high with five aces as Price added in three and Holehouse and freshman Alyssa D¹Errico (Byron, N.Y.) each posted one.
The Nittany Lions also claimed the blocking battle, 9.0 to 6.5. Wilson led the way with six stuffs as Glass recorded four and Harmotto tallied three.
Erica Short led Indiana with nine kills as Kelsey Hall provided seven. Mara Hilgenberg dished out 19 assists and added nine digs, as did libero Juli Pierce, while Hall and Taylor Wittmer each recorded three blocks.
Penn State grabbed a 7-0 lead to start the match behind four Fawcett service aces in the first five points. A Hodge kill and Price ace forced an Indiana timeout at 10-3 and a block by Fawcett and Harmotto put the Lions ahead 13-4. The teams exchanged points several times and consecutive Fawcett kills gave Penn State the 19-7 lead. A Brown and Wilson block and a Brown kill pushed the score to 22-11 and a Hodge kill made it 25-13 before a Harmotto kill and ace ended the game, 30-14. Penn State racked up seven aces in the first game alone while Hodge recorded six kills.
A Harmotto kill to put Penn State ahead 12-11 to begin the second game sparked a 5-0 Lion run to make it 16-11. Following an Indiana kill, Penn State scored four of the next six points to go ahead 20-13. Two kills from Fawcett and one each from Brown, Glass and Walbridge extended the lead to 25-14. Kills by Hodge and Fawcett, another Fawcett service ace and an Indiana attack error ended the game, 30-16.
Behind strong serving from senior Kara Callahan (Bloomington, Ill.), Penn State opened up the 13-7 lead capped by a solo Wilson block. A Wilson kill and consecutive Fawcett put-aways pushed the score to 17-8. A Hodge kill made it 22-12 and another Fawcett kill extended the advantage to 27-19 before a Hoosier attack error ended the game, 30-23.
Penn State returns to the road, facing Northwestern and Michigan State next weekend. The Nittany Lions and Wildcats will square off on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m. CT in Evanston, Ill., before the Lions and Spartans meet on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 5:00 p.m. ET in East Lansing, Mich. The match between Penn State and Michigan State will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
This past Friday¹s match between Penn State and Purdue will air (tomorrow) Sunday, Nov. 4 at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
For more information on the Penn State women¹s volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.