Sept. 3, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team (4-0) defeated Seton Hall, 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-20), Friday night in front of 3,025 Nittany Lion faithful. Penn State is back in action tomorrow at 10 a.m. versus Colgate in Rec Hall for day two of the Hampton Inn Classic.
Freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led all players with 14 kills and was second on the team with seven digs. Senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) posted 11 kills on .667 hitting and led the Lions with four total blocks. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) paced the PSU offense with 38 assists and senior Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) registered a match-high 13 digs.
Penn State attacked at a .300 clip and totaled 41 kills, 41 assists, four aces, 35 digs and 9.5 total team blocks. Seton Hall (1-3) finished the match with a .042 hitting percentage, 28 kills, 25 assists, five aces, 31 digs and 4.0 team blocks.
The first set started out close as neither team could manage to take a strong lead. The score tied six times before the Pirates took an 8-6 lead on a kill by Morgan DeVries and an ace by Megan Murison. A kill by McClendon and an SHU error allowed the Nittany Lions to tie it up, 8-8, but PSU didn't take the lead until a kill from senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) and a Pirate attack error. Seton Hall stayed within two of the Nittany Lions until two straight errors and back-to-back Penn State kills gave Penn State a 17-13 advantage. After an SHU timeout the Pirates fought back within two, 19-17, before a putdown by Brown and another Pirate error had the Lions ahead by four, 21-17. Despite another kill by Brown, three PSU errors put Seton Hall within two, 22-20. However, two SHU attack errors and a Wilson kill secured set one for PSU, 25-20.
Penn State took a 6-3 lead in set two thanks to kills by McClendon, junior Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) and Wilson, as well as three Pirate errors. Penn State's lead grew to four, 8-4, before a service error and an SHU ace put the Pirates within two, 8-6. A 5-1 Nittany Lion run, including two Kabbes kills, gave Penn State a 13-7 lead and some breathing room. By midway through the set, Penn State was leading by eight, 16-8. The Pirates came as close as five points of the Nittany Lions on two occasions, but an 8-1 run by Penn State kept the Pirates at bay. The Lions won set two, 25-14.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third and final set after two Wilson kills, one from McClendon and an ace from freshman Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.). The Pirates answered with a 7-4 run to come within two of PSU, 10-8, and by mid-point of the frame, Seton Hall at a slim 15-14 edge. Two straight Pirate errors had Penn State back in the lead, 16-15, but it took kills from Kabbes and Brown and a PSU block to give Penn State some breathing room with a 20-17 lead. Seton Hall used two timeouts in the waning minutes of the game, but they failed to slow the Nittany Lions. A putdown by Wilson and two consecutive McClendon kills gave Penn State a 25-20 third set victory.
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.