Sept. 20, 2008
University Park, Pa. - The top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team used a season-high hitting percentage of .583 to defeat Saint Louis in three games (25-17, 25-12, 25-15) Saturday night at Rec Hall in front of 3,241 fans. The Nittany Lions remain undefeated with a 12-0 record to close out the preseason portion of the schedule and have yet to drop an individual set this season. The Billikens fall to 8-4.
Penn State's Nicole Fawcett was named the Hampton Inn Penn State Classic Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Alisha Glass, Blair Brown and Christa Harmotto along with Saint Louis' Whitney Roth and Sammi McCloud, Yale's Laurel Johnson and New Hampshire's Alyse Lahti.
"It was a nice night, a great crowd," said head coach Russ Rose. "There's not a lot to complain about when you hit .583 as a team. There was a great energy in the gym tonight and I thought we were very strong in our passing and offense. We played hard against a good opponent who played well. It's hard to beat a team when we're playing like we are and we just kind of overwhelmed a very good Saint Louis team."
Senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) led all players with 16 kills on .696 hitting without an error as senior middle hitter Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) pounded 10 kills without an error on 17 swings to hit .588 and junior outside hitter Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) posted 10 kills on .500 hitting. The Nittany Lions recorded 45 kills in the contest.
Junior setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) directed the Lion offense with 38 assists as senior libero Roberta Holehouse (Joppa, Md.) picked up a match-high 10 digs. Sophomore Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) posted seven digs as Fawcett added in five and Hodge recorded four.
Penn State tallied 9.5 team blocks while not allowing Saint Louis any. Glass led the way with six stuffs, including two solo efforts, and Harmotto added in five blocks. Sophomore opposite Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) recorded two blocks to go along with her five kills on .625 hitting as sophomore middle hitter Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) also notched two blocks with three kills.
The Nittany Lions again dominated the serving game, posting nine aces to the Billikens' four. Fawcett, Hodge, Holehouse and D'Errico all recorded two aces as junior Kelsey Ream (State College, Pa.) tallied one.
Saint Louis' Sammi McCloud led the Billikens with eight kills as Whitney Roth, Bridget Fonke and Megan Boken all added in four kills.
The first game remained even early on, with a Fawcett, Wilson and Glass block breaking the 6-6 tie. The Lions maintained the slight advantage, going up 13-9 on a Brown kill before a Harmotto kill and Harmotto and Glass block sparked a 4-1 Lion run to go up 18-11. Kills from Hodge, Fawcett and Brown aided Penn State in remaining ahead before a Hodge kill ended the game, 25-17. Hodge recorded four kills in the game.
Penn State jumped out to the early 4-0 lead behind a Brown kill, consecutive Harmotto put-aways and a Holehouse ace. Saint Louis fought back to within two at 8-6 but Lion kills from Hodge and Brown extended the advantage to 10-6. Kills from Fawcett and Wilson aided Penn State in going up 13-8 and a Harmotto and Glass block made it 15-9. Three consecutive Lion kills and a Hodge ace continued the streak and pushed the lead to 10 at 20-10 before a Wilson and Brown block ended the game, 25-12. Fawcett racked up seven kills on an errorless nine swings to hit .778 in the stanza. As a team, Penn State attacked at a .810 (17-0-21) clip.
A Fawcett kill put Penn State up 5-4 in the third set and the teams traded points twice before Saint Louis went on a 5-0 run to take the 10-6 lead. A Fawcett kill ended the streak but the Billikens maintained the lead, going up 11-7 on a kill from Bridget Fonke and 12-9 on a Lion attack error. A Hodge kill sparked a 4-0 Penn State run, with a Harmotto solo stuff swinging the momentum to the Lions and putting them up 13-12. The squads exchanged kills and two more Harmotto kills and a D'Errico ace forced a Saint Louis timeout with Penn State in the lead, 17-13. After a Billiken kill and service error, a Harmotto and Glass block started a 6-0 Nittany Lion streak to make it 24-14 before a Fawcett kill ended the game, 25-15. Penn State closed out the third game on a 19-5 run after being down 10-6.
Penn State opens up Big Ten play at home next weekend. On Friday, Sept. 26, the Nittany Lions face Purdue at 6:00 p.m. Prior to the match, the 2007 NCAA Championship banner will be raised to the Rec Hall ceiling and after the contest, a football pep rally will take place. On Saturday, Sept. 27, Penn State will face Illinois in women's volleyball beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Rec Hall before the Nittany Lions and Fighting Illini battle it out on the gridiron across campus at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youth and $2 per person for groups of 10 or more. Penn State students are free with their PSU ID. Tickets will be available at the door until capacity is reached.
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.