Sept. 17, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team (8-1) earned a convincing 3-0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-13) win Friday night against George Washington (8-4) in the Rockvale Outlets Classic. More than 3,800 fans jammed the stands of Rec Hall to see the Nittany Lions defeat the Colonials.
Freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led all players with 15 kills on a career-high hitting percentage of .636. Junior Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) was second on the team with nine kills and a career-high hitting percentage of .692. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) dished out 31 assists and tied for first on the team 10 digs. Senior Cathy Quilico (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) also posted 10 digs. Freshman Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) led the team with three aces and freshman Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) had a match-high five blocks.
The Nittany Lions attacked at a blistering .541 clip and totaled 42 kills, 38 assists, six aces, 34 digs and 9.5 total team blocks. Penn State held the Colonials to -.060 hitting, 18 kills, 17 assists, 27 digs and 1.0 team block.
Penn State leapt out to a 7-3 lead in set one thanks to three kills by Brown, one each from senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) and Kabbes and a dual-block by McClendon and senior Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela). Back-to-back kills from GW's Rachael Goss and another from teammate Katie Crosby put the Colonials within one, 7-6. A McClendon kill and a block by Carpenter and Wilson but the Lions up by three, 9-6, but a PSU service error had George Washington within one, 9-7. A Wilson kill sparked a 7-2 run by the Lions, which gave Penn State a 15-9 advantage. The Colonials cut off the PSU run with a block, but the Nittany Lions took off on a 10-2 tear to close out the first set, 25-12. The Colonials aided the Lions with five errors, while McClendon contributed two kills and a block during the run.
The second set practically blew by as Penn State held the Colonials to just five points. The Nittany Lions got off to a 6-1 start before GWU called a timeout. The Colonials notched the first point following the break, but the Nittany Lions embarked on a 9-1 run to widen the gap to 12, 15-3. George Washington called a second timeout, but it didn't faze Penn State. Wilson and Carpenter teamed up for a block as Penn State went on to post the next three points for a 19-3 lead. The Colonials earned two more points before closed out the set on a 6-0 run for a 25-5 win.
Kabbes opened the third set for the Lions with a kill, but the score remained close until about midway through the frame. With a 12-8 lead, Penn State capitalized on two GWU errors and a McClendon kill to increase their lead to 15-8 and force the Colonials to the bench. The timeout failed to slow the Nittany Lions who increased their lead to double-digits, 19-9, after two blocks from Slay and Brown. Lauren Whyte and Katie Zulandt each posted a kill for George Washington, but Penn State answered right back with two of its own to keep its lead at 10, 21-11. The Colonials managed just two additional points before a Wilson kill and two from Kabbes gave Penn State a 25-13 set three victory.
What's Next?
Penn State is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 18 against Princeton at 10 a.m. in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions close out the Rockvale Outlets Classic Saturday evening at 7 p.m. against St. John's.
Notes
• The Nittany Lions held the Colonials to just five points in the second set. The last time Penn State beat a team by at least 20 points in a single set was on Sept. 8, 2007. The Lions defeated Colgate in the Penn State Classic, 3-0 (30-10, 30-13, 30-14).
• Four Nittany Lions posted career-highs in several statistical categories against GWU. McClendon's .636 (15-1-22) hitting percentage and Kabbes' .692 (9-0-13) hitting percentage were career highs, while Slay's five total blocks and Longo's three aces were also personal bests.
• Penn State's .541 (42-2-74) hitting percentage was a season-high. Penn State last hit greater than .500 on Dec. 4, 2009 against Binghamton (.507) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, which was held at Rec Hall.
• Head coach Russ Rose has accumulated 1,009 career wins.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2010 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets at Hershey.