Sept. 12, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. - The No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team remained undefeated in 2009 with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-13) sweep of the College of Charleston in their second match of the Duke Invitational. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
Senior Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) led all players with 18 kills on .500 hitting, while junior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) was the only other player in double-digits with 10 kills. Junior Brown Blair (Purcellville, Va.) was third on the team with nine kills and led the Nittany Lions with five total blocks. Senior setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) dished out 46 assists and junior libero Alyssa D'Errico posted a career-high 18 digs.
The Nittany Lions recorded a .472 attack percentage and held the Cougars to a measly .034. Penn State recorded 55 kills, 43 digs and eight total blocks, while CofC tallied just 18 kills, 15 digs and four blocks.
The Cougars wasted no time in the first set and were on the board first with a kill by Elyse Chubb. Hodge responded with a kill of her own and a kill and an ace from Brown with a CofC error mixed in gave Penn State a 4-2 edge. Two Penn State errors had the set tied 4-4, but Glass gave the Nittany Lions the lead right back with a kill. Neither team could manage to break away, but Penn State found itself ahead by three, 12-9 after a kill from Hodge and a D'Errico ace. An error brought the Cougars within two, but a Brown kill had PSU back ahead by three, 13-10. That was the closest Charleston would come for the remainder of the set. The Cougars kept it close thanks to their blocking game, but kills from freshman Darcy Dorton (Muncie, Ind.) and Hodge putting PSU ahead 19-15 forced Charleston to take a timeout. Hodge followed the break with another kill and despite registering three straight errors, Penn State held on to its lead and a monster kill from Wilson would send Charleston back to its bench. After the timeout and another kill from Wilson, a Cougar error gave Penn State a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Nittany Lions came alive in the second set taking a 4-0 lead before a PSU error gave the Cougars a point. However, three straight kills from Hodge and another from Wilson had Penn State leading by seven, 8-1, and CofC taking a timeout. The Cougars were unable to slow the Nittany Lions and soon found themselves trailing by 12, 16-4, after back-to-back Nittany Lion blocks by junior Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela) and Brown. After another Charleston timeout, two kills each from sophomore Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) and Brown moved Penn State ahead by 15, 20-5. The Cougars managed to fight to double-digits, but Kabbes closed out the set with a kill for a 25-10 win.
Charleston did not let Penn State run away early in the third set as the set was tied 4-4 early on. Four kills, including two from Balza, gave Penn State an 8-4 lead and some breathing room. From there, kills from Balza and Kabbes and two Cougar errors moved Penn State ahead by seven, 12-5, and forced Charleston to take a timeout. Despite responding with a kill, the Nittany Lions maintained control and two consecutive kills from Hodge had Penn State up, 18-11. After one final CofC timeout, Hodge and Wilson set about putting the match away. Four kills from Hodge, two from Wilson and an ace from freshman Kristen Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) secured a 25-13 third set victory.
Penn State closes out the Duke Invitational with a 7 p.m. matchup with the hosting Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Live stats will be available via a link at www.GoDuke.com and live audio will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.