Sept. 12, 2008
CHICAGO, Ill. - Behind 13 kills on .706 hitting by senior middle hitter Christa Harmotto, the top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team swept Illinois-Chicago (25-9, 25-18, 25-20) Friday night at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago, Ill. The Nittany Lions improve to 7-0 while the Flames drop to 3-4.
In addition to Harmotto's numbers, junior outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) posted 10 kills, sophomore opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) notched eight kills on .500 hitting, senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) tallied seven kills and sophomore middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) posted six kills. As a team, Penn State hit .393, including .591 in the first set.
Junior setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 37 assists and added three kills on five attacks while as a team, Penn State racked up a season-high nine service aces, including four by senior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.). Hodge led the Lion defense with nine digs as Holehouse contributed seven, Fawcett picked up five and Glass along with sophomore defensive specialist Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) recorded four apiece.
Penn State recorded 5.0 team blocks to UIC's 2.0. Wilson notched four stuffs, Brown added three and Fawcett took part in two.
Penn State started out the match on fire, going up 5-0 on three Holehouse aces and two Harmotto kills, including one overpass. Illinois-Chicago scored a kill and an ace to pull within three at 5-2 but a Harmotto put-away, back to back Hodge kills and a D'Errico ace aided the Lions in going up 9-2. The teams traded points and another Harmotto overpass kill coupled with a Hodge ace pushed Penn State up 14-3. The Flames scored three of the next four points to pull within nine at 15-6. But kills from Glass and Hodge and a Wilson and Brown block extended the Lion lead to 18-6 and forced another Illinois-Chicago timeout. The teams exchanged points out of the break, with a Wilson kill, a Brown put-away and two Hodge kills pushing the score to 22-7 before a Brown kill and an ace from junior Kimi Hohl (DeKalb, Ill.) ended the game, 25-9. Penn State racked up six service aces and 15 kills in the game while attacking at a .591 clip.
The second game remained close early on, with a Lion triple block from Fawcett, Wilson and Brown giving Penn State the 5-3 lead and a Wilson kill putting the Nittany Lions up 8-6. Two Penn State errors and a UIC kill pulled the Flames to even at 9-9 before an Illinois-Chicago service error, a Fawcett and Harmotto block, a Flame attack error and a Harmotto overpass kill put Penn State ahead 13-9. A Flame kill out of a timeout trimmed the gap to three at 13-10 but Penn State scored the next four points - a Hodge kill from the backrow, an Illinois-Chicago ball-handling error, a Wilson kill following a diving Harmotto dig, and a Harmotto ace - to give the Nittany Lions the 17-10 lead. UIC fought back, scoring five of the next six points, to pull within three at 18-15 but a Fawcett kill, a Kabbes overpass kill and a Brown and Wilson block made it 21-15. Following a Lion service error, two Harmotto kills aided Penn State in taking the 24-16 lead before an authoritative Harmotto kill ended the game, 25-18. Harmotto collected six kills on eight swings with only one error to hit .625 in the set.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to the early 4-0 lead before a Glass kill made it 6-3. Two Fawcett kills along with a Brown, Wilson and Fawcett block extended the score to 9-6 and Lion kills from Hodge and Harmotto made it 13-10. Consecutive Penn State put-aways from Harmotto and Fawcett gave the Lions the 15-11 advantage and back to back kills from Fawcett and Brown made it 18-14. Following an Illinois-Chicago kill, consecutive Brown kills pushed the Lions up 20-15. But out of a Flames timeout, they caught fire, scoring four of the next five points to pull within two at 21-19. Two Harmotto kills extended the lead to 23-19 to force another UIC timeout. A Lion attack error that sailed wide pulled Illinois-Chicago within three at 23-20 but a Glass dump kill and a Harmotto ace ended the game, 25-20. Fawcett posted five kills in the set as Harmotto and Brown each tallied four.
The Nittany Lions continue action at the Chicago Classic, taking on Illinois State on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 2:00 p.m. CT. Penn State then faces Louisville at 7:30 p.m. to close out action in the tournament. The Nittany Lions host the Penn State Classic on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19-20 with Yale, New Hampshire and Saint Louis at Rec Hall.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2008 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets At Hershey.