Nov. 6, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The ninth-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team defeated Big Ten foe Michigan State, 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19), to improve to 21-4 overall with an 11-3 record in league play. Michigan State fell to 11-14 overall with a 3-11 Big Ten record.
Four Nittany Lions posted double-digit kills with senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) lead all players with 18. Freshman Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) posted a season-high 14, freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) had 12 and freshman Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) posted a personal-best 10. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) dished out 48 assists and senior libero Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) had a team-best 12 digs. Slay led all players with six total blocks.
Penn State hit .331 for the match and held the Spartans to .274. The Nittany Lions totaled 62 kills, six aces, 40 digs and 9.0 total team blocks. Michigan State finished the match with 51 kills, two aces, 45 digs and 9.0 team blocks.
Penn State opened the match taking a 6-1 lead against the Spartans. Slay had two kills and teamed up with Brown for two blocks to help the Nittany Lions to the early lead. Michigan State fought to within four, 9-5, but a 4-1 run by PSU had Penn State up by seven, 13-6. Penn State's lead continued to grow thanks to two kills by Slay and one each from McClendon and Scott. With Penn State leading 17-8, MSU called its second timeout of the set. The teams traded points until the Spartans managed a 9-4 run holding Penn State for three straight points to be within four, 24-20. Penn State called a timeout and Scott pounded a kill to close out the set in Penn State's favor, 25-20.
The Nittany Lions wasted no time taking control in the second set leaping out to a 7-1 lead. Scott had two kills and McClendon registered two aces in the early run. Kyndra Abron put down a kill to cut off the Lions, but Scott followed it with one of her own to give PSU an 8-2 advantage and send MSU to the bench. D'Errico followed the timeout with an ace before Abron pounded another kill for the Spartans bringing the score to 9-3 in favor of PSU. Brown increased PSU's lead to seven, 10-3, but a 6-1 Michigan State run had the Spartans within two, 11-9. A Brown kill moved Penn State ahead by three, 12-9, but a Spartan stuff put MSU within two once again. A Michigan State service error had the Nittany Lions back up by three, 13-10. However, four straight Spartan points had MSU in the lead, 14-13. A McClendon kill tied the set at 14-14. The score tied once more before a 3-0 Spartan run had Michigan State leading by three, 18-15. The Nittany Lions came within two of the Spartans on three occasions, but the Spartans continued to dominate and had a 22-18 lead as the set began to wind down. After a Penn State timeout, the Nittany Lions managed three straight points to cut the gap to one, 22-21, and send MSU to the bench. Brown and McClendon each had a kill in the 3-0 PSU run. Jenilee Rathje and Megan Schatzle each put down a kill for MSU to put the Spartans in set point position, 24-21. McClendon managed one final kill for Penn State before Schatzle secured set two for Michigan State, 25-22, with a kill.
Two Michigan State errors and two kills by Brown had Penn State leading 4-1 to start the third frame. Penn State's momentum continued to build as Brown, Wilson, Scott, McClendon and Carpenter each pounded kills to give Penn State a 9-4 advantage. McClendon and Slay teamed up for a block to move the Lions ahead by six, 10-4, and force a Michigan State timeout. The timeout failed to slow PSU as the Lions managed a 4-1 run for a 14-5 lead. The Spartans managed to cut Penn State's lead to seven, 15-8, but a Schatzle error and a joint stuff by Wilson and Scott had the Nittany Lions back up by nine, 17-8. The Nittany Lions continued to dominate and a MSU attack error and a McClendon kill had Penn State's lead in double-digit, 20-10. A McClendon kill increased PSU's lead to 11 before three PSU errors and a Spartan kills had Michigan State within eight, 22-14. Two more Spartan errors pushed the Lions into set point position, 24-15, and a Slay kill gave Penn State a 25-16 set three victory.
The Nittany Lions took a 5-2 lead in the fourth stanza with a kill from McClendon, two by Brown and back-to-back kills by Scott. A Rathje kill had the Spartans within two, 5-3, but a Scott kill and joint block by Wilson and McClendon had Penn State up by four, 7-3. Natalie Emro put down a kill for the Spartans but two straight Penn State kills had the Lions in front by five, 9-4. A service error gave MSU a point, but a 3-0 run by the Nittany Lions, including a kill and a block by Slay, had Penn State surging ahead with a seven-point advantage, 12-5. The Nittany Lions maintained at least a seven-point lead until a 3-1 Spartan run had Michigan State within five, 16-11. A Scott kill sparked a 5-2 Penn State run that pushed Penn State ahead by eight, 21-13, and forced a Michigan State timeout. Brown followed the timeout with a kill, but a PSU service error kept the Spartans within eight, 22-14. A MSU service error had Penn State in front by seven, 23-15, but the Spartans followed it up with a 3-1 run to cut the gap to six, 24-18. Penn State called a timeout and despite an attack error, Brown closed out the set for Penn State with a kill, 25-19.
What's Next? The Nittany Lions are back in action on Friday, Nov. 12 when they host Wisconsin in the first of four straight matches at Rec Hall. The match is set for 7 p.m. Penn State goes on to host Illinois on Nov. 13, Ohio State on Nov. 17 and Northwestern on Nov. 19.
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.