Sept. 19, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-8) victory against Saint Francis (Pa.) (2-9) Saturday morning. The Nittany Lions (11-0) extended their NCAA-record winning streak to 75 consecutive matches and increased their home winnings streak to 61 straight matches.
Senior Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) and junior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) tallied 15 and 13 kills, respectively, to lead the team. Wilson posted a career-high .929 (13-0-14) attack percentage and had a team-high three total blocks. Senior setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) paced the offense with 33 assists and also led the team in digs with 12. Junior libero Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) tied her career-high with five aces, while sophomore Megan Shifflett (Falls Church, Va.) set a career-high with two aces.
The Nittany Lions recorded 44 kills, 40 assists and eight aces, while the Red Flash put up just 19 kills, 17 assists and one ace. PSU outdug SFU 39-16 and both teams had four blocks each.
Penn State took a 4-1 lead in the first set courtesy of kills from junior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) and Hodge and two SFU attack errors. Despite a kill from SFU's Rikki Myers, the Nittany Lions were ahead 6-2 after a kill each by Hodge and Wilson. The Red Flash answered with a kill by Shirley Miller, but a Wilson kill and another Saint Francis error kept PSU in control. Back-to-back Red Flash errors would move Penn State ahead by six, 10-4, but a kill from Danielle Reese and two Nittany Lion errors had SFU within three, 10-7, moments later. Saint Francis kept it close for the next few minutes, but the Nittany Lions began to break away with a kill from freshman Darcy Dorton (Muncie, Ind.) and two straight by Hodge. After an SFU timeout, Penn State moved even closer to taking the first set with a four kills and an ace for a 21-10 advantage. SFU used another timeout, but registered three errors to give Penn State a 25-10 first set win.
The Red Flash took an early 2-0 lead in the second set after a PSU error and a block by Miller and Elizabeth Williams, but a Dorton kill put the Nittany Lions on the board. Penn State soon tied it up, 3-3, after a kill from sophomore Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) and another by Wilson. The Nittany Lions managed to move ahead by two, 5-3, after an SFU error and another Kabbes swing, but the Red Flash remained close behind until midway through the set. Leading by two, 14-12, the Nittany Lions seemed to find the spark it needed on a monster kill by Wilson. An attack error by SFU and a kill from Dorton finally gave the Nittany Lions the breathing room they needed, 17-12. The Red Flash managed to come within four points on five occasions and even took a timeout in hopes of slowing the Nittany Lion momentum, but Wilson and Glass teamed up for a big block to close out the set for PSU, 25-18.
The Nittany Lions came alive in the third set and held the Red Flash to just eight points. Hodge opened the set with a big kill to awaken the Rec Hall crowd. Despite SFU fighting back for a 2-1 lead, Hodge answered with another big kill to tie it 2-2. D'Errico went on to record two straight aces for a 4-2 lead and the Nittany Lions never looked back and an SFU error, a Wilson kill and another D'Errico ace had the Red Flash taking a break to regroup. The timeout failed to slow PSU as Hodge and Wilson recorded three kills apiece, Glass added one and Shifflett had two aces to give Penn State a 16-3 lead. After another Saint Francis timeout, the Red Flash was aided by a PSU error, but Hodge put an end to their hopes with another kill. Dorton tallied three kills and junior Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela) notched a solo block to secure the set (25-8) and match for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are back in action tonight with a 7:30 p.m. match with Temple in Rec Hall. Live stats will be available via a link at www.GoPSUsports.com and the Big Ten Network will be streaming the match live at BigTenNetwork.com for $2.99.