Oct. 2, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 4 Penn State women's volleyball team defeated the 19th-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20), Saturday night in front of 3,801 Nittany Lion faithful. The Nittany Lions (13-3, 3-1) extended their home winning streak to 82 consecutive matches. The victory against Michigan was the 200th win at Rec Hall in the past 10 years.
Freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led the Nittany Lions with 14 kills on .407 hitting. She also was second on the team with 10 digs. Senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) was second on the team with 13 kills, while posting four blocks. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) paced the offense with 30 assists, while senior Cathy Quilico (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) led the team with 12 digs. Junior Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) had a match-high seven blocks and senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) finished the night with six.
The Nittany Lions registered a .317 attack percentage, while the Wolverines (14-2, 3-1) attacked at a .216 clip. Penn State totaled 42 kills, six aces, 39 digs and 12.0 total team blocks. Michigan closed out the match with 41 kills, three aces, 47 digs and just 2.5 team blocks.
Penn State took the lead early with a Carpenter kill and a block by Kabbes and freshman Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.). A PSU service error put the Wolverines on the board, but two Michigan errors and a Brown putdown put Penn State ahead, 5-2. The Wolverines came within one on five occasions, but a 3-0 run by PSU gave the Lions a 12-8 lead and sent Michigan to the bench. The Wolverines answered with a 5-1 run to tie the set at 13-13. The score tied here times before another 3-0 run by PSU put Penn State up, 19-16. After a second Michigan timeout, the Wolverines tallied two kills. However, Penn State embarked on a 5-0 run to be in set-point position. The Wolverines managed two more points before Brown closed out the set with a kill for PSU, 25-20.
Michigan set the tone at the start of set two taking a 3-0 lead, but Penn State answered with a 5-1 run for a slim 5-4 lead. Brown had two kills in the run, while Wilson recorded an ace. The score tied four times before the Wolverines used a kill and a PSU error for a 10-8 edge. Penn State came back to knot the score at 10-10, but by midway through the frame Michigan was leading 15-12. Kills by McClendon and Slay and an ace from Brown helped the Nittany Lions to come within one of the Wolverines, 15-16. A Michigan attack error tied the score at 16-16. Neither team was able to develop any momentum as the score tied at 17-17 and again at 18-18. However, a PSU service error and a Michigan ace gave the Wolverines a two-point advantage as the set began to wind down. Penn State called a timeout and capitalized on kills from Wilson and Kabbes and a Michigan attack error to take a 22-21 lead. Michigan called a timeout, but Penn State's lead grew to 24-21 on a dual-block by Slay and Brown and a Brown kill. Michigan used their final timeout and recorded one final kill before McClendon put the set away for PSU, 25-22.
The Nittany Lions took a 5-2 lead to start set three and maintained control for the entirety of the set. Early on the Wolverines fought to within one of Penn State twice, but two straight errors by Michigan had Penn State leading 9-6. Following a Michigan timeout, Penn State registered an attack error and Alex Hunt tallied a kill for the Wolverines to cut Penn State's lead to one, 9-8. Penn State answered with a 5-0 run for a 14-8 lead. The Nittany Lion lead grew to six, 16-10, but the Wolverines didn't go away. Michigan came within four three times, but Penn State didn't let the Wolverines gain any momentum. A triple-block by Kabbes, Wilson and Carpenter, followed by a Carpenter kill moved the Nittany Lions ahead by six, 22-16, as the end of the match came into sight. The Wolverines managed one final push, a 3-0 run, to cut the gap to four, 23-19, but kills by Brown and Wilson secured the third set win, 25-20, for PSU.
What's Next?
Penn State is back in action on Friday, Oct. 8 at Purdue at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions take on Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 9. The match is also at 7 p.m.
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.