Sept. 18, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Superb blocking by the No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team guided the Nittany Lions to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-5) victory against St. John's (13-4). Penn State improves to 10-1 after going 3-0 in the Rockvale Outlets Classic.
Head coach Russ Rose and the Nittany Lions were honored post-match for their achievements the past three seasons. The Nittany Lions won an unprecedented three consecutive NCAA titles (2007, 2008 & 2009) while on a record-breaking 109-match winning streak. The streak, the longest in NCAA Division I women's history and second only to the Miami men's tennis team's streak of 137 straight matches, began on Sept. 21, 2007 and ended on Sept. 11, 2010.
Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.), senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) and senior Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) were Penn State's representatives on the Rockvale Outlet's All-Tournament Team. George Washington's Candace Silva-Martin, Princeton's Jennifer Palmquist and St. John's Darlene Ramdin and Anzelika Lukjanska were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
Senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) led the Lions with 11 kills, while freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) was second on the team with eight. Carpenter dished out 28 assists and contributed two blocks. D'Errico led the team in digs with eight and aces with five. Junior Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) had a career-high eight blocks, Wilson put up seven. Senior Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela) had a season-high eight as well.
Penn State attacked a .314 clip and held the Red Storm to -.257 hitting. The Nittany Lions posted 33 kils, seven aces, 22 digs and 16.5 total team blocks. St. John's finished the match with 13 kills, one ace, 19 digs and 3.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions opened the match taking a 4-0 lead and forcing an early Red Storm timeout. Three PSU errors and a St. John's kill brought the Red Storm within one, 5-4. The Nittany Lions maintained at least a two-point edge before an 11-1 run gave Penn State a 21-9 advantage. Wilson had four blocks in the run, Kabbes posted three and Brown had two. A PSU error gave St. John's a point, but kills from Balza and Brown and a Penn State stuff secured set one for PSU, 25-11.
St. John's took a 2-0 lead to start set two, but the lead was short-lived as a Brown kill and two Red Storm errors put Penn State in front, 3-2. St. John's didn't let the Lions off easy as the Red Storm used a dual-block to tied it up at 3-3. The score tied four more times before a Wilson putdown and a St. John's error put the Lions up by two, 9-7. After a St. John's timeout, Penn State's lead grew to five, 14-9, as PSU posted two kills and the Red Storm tallied three errors. St. John's called a second timeout, but Penn State's lead continued to grow. Another kill by Brown and a block by McClendon and Balza had Penn State leading 17-9. The Red Storm fought to within five twice, but Penn State closed out the set with a 6-1 run for a 25-15 win.
The third set was a swift victory for the Lions as Penn State cruised to a 25-5 win. Despite the teams starting out the set close with Penn State only taking a narrow 4-3 lead, a 7-0 Penn State run increased the gap to eight, 11-3. Following a Red Storm timeout, Paulina Piegza notched a kill for St. John's. However, it wasn't enough to spark the Red Storm to action. Penn State took off on an 11-0 tear for a 22-4 lead. D'Errico had four of her five aces during the run. An attack error by PSU ended the run, but kills by Wilson and Kabbes and an ace from freshman Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) ended the set and the match.
What's Next?
Penn State is back in action on Friday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. ET at Illinois. The Nittany Lions then travel to Wisconsin for a Sunday afternoon matchup (2 p.m. ET) against the Badgers.
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.