Nov. 27, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's volleyball team, 2010 Big Ten Champions, closed out the conference season at Minnesota with a 3-2 (25-14, 25-21, 24-26, 23-25, 21-23) setback. It was just the third five set match of the year for the Nittany Lions (26-5, 16-4 Big Ten).
Senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, Va.) led the Nittany Lions with a career-high 24 kills and also had 13 digs and three blocks. Freshman Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) posted a personal-best 21 kills, while freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) had 15 and senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) registered 12. Sophomore setter Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) had a career-high 70 assists and 15 digs. Senior libero Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) had a match-high and career-best 35 digs. Freshman Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) was second on the team with a personal-best 16 digs and senior Cathy Quilico (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) was fifth on the team with 11 digs. Senior Fatima Balza (Merida, Venezuela) led Penn State with eight total blocks, while McClendon was second on the squad with five.
Penn State registered a .278 attack percentage, while the Gophers (24-8, 14-6 Big Ten) hit .217. Penn State totaled 81 kills, five aces, 102 digs and 12.0 total team blocks. Minnesota finished the match with 73 kills. Six aces, 90 digs and 12.0 team blocks.
Penn State opened the match taking a 5-2 lead, but three straight Nittany Lion errors had the score tied at 5-5. A kill by Scott put the Lions back in front and Penn State increased its lead to five, 13-8, when the Gophers took their first time out. Minnesota fought to within two, 13-11, but a 7-1 Nittany Lions run had Penn State with a comfortable 20-12 advantage. Scott had three kills in the run for PSU. A service error cut off the run for the Nittany Lions, but kills by Wilson and Carpenter and two Minnesota errors had the Lions in set-point position, 24-13. Lauren Gibbemeyer put down a kill for Minnesota before Wilson pounded a kill to give PSU a 25-14 first set win.
The Nittany Lions took control early in the second frame, but Minnesota never let PSU develop a substantial lead. With a 7-5 edge, kills by McClendon and Brown moved the Nittany Lions ahead by four, 9-5. Back-to-back kills by Minnesota's Katherine Harms had the Gophers back within two, 9-7, before a 3-0 PSU run pushed Penn State ahead by five, 12-7. A block, an ace and a kill moved Minnesota within two once again, 12-10, but a 3-1 run by the Lions had Penn State's lead at four, 15-11. PSU's lead continued to grow and soon a Minnesota ball handling error and a McClendon kill had the Nittany Lions leading by six, 19-13. Minnesota embarked on a 5-2 run to cut the gap to three, 21-18, and force a Penn State timeout. A Gibbemeyer kill had the Gophers trailing by only two, 21-19, but three kills by Brown had the Lions at set point, 24-20. Scott closed out the set with a kill for a 25-21 victory.
Minnesota grabbed a 4-2 lead early in the third stanza. Penn State fought back to tie it up at 5-5 and again at 6-6, but two PSU errors and a kill by Tabi Love had the Gophers up by three, 8-5. Wilson put down a kill for PSU, but four straight points by the Gophers had Minnesota leading, 12-6. The Nittany Lions fought to within three, 14-11, with two kills by Brown and one each from Balza and McClendon. A Gibbemeyer kill and a PSU attack error kept the Gophers up by four, 16-12, but a 3-0 PSU run cut the gap to one, 16-15. Scott had two kills and Brown had an ace to aid PSU. After a Minnesota timeout, a Gopher attack error had the score knotted at 16-16. Gibbemeyer put the Gophers up by one, 17-16, with a kill, but Scott fired back with a kill to tie the score at 17-17. A Quilico ace gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the set before a Minnesota error had the Lions up by two, 19-17. Penn State's lead increased to three with a Wilson kill and the Gophers called a second timeout. Love followed the break with a kill, but Carpenter dumped it over the net for a kill to give the Lions a three-point lead, 22-19. A 3-1 Minnesota run had the Gophers behind by only one, 23-22, and Penn State taking a timeout. A PSU error had the score tied at 23-23, but a kill by Brown put the Lions back in front, 24-23. Three consecutive points by the Gophers gave them set three, 26-24.
Minnesota's momentum continued into set four as the Gophers jumped out to an 8-5 lead. A 4-0 Nittany Lions run had Penn State with a slim 9-8 lead. A kill by Tori Dixon made it 9-9, but a second 4-0 run by the Lions had Penn State with a 13-9 lead. Following a Minnesota timeout, Dixon pounded a kill before a 4-1 PSU run had Penn State's lead at six, 17-11. Minnesota took a second timeout and the Gophers tallied five straight points to be within one of Penn State, 17-16. The Nittany Lions called a timeout to slow Minnesota momentum. Brown put down a kill to give Penn State some breathing room, 18-16, but Ashley Wittman answered back to cut it to one, 18-17. The Gophers managed to tie the score three times, forcing Penn State to take a timeout with the score at 23-23. A Gibbemeyer kill and a PSU error closed out set four for the Gophers, 25-23.
The Nittany Lions took a 2-1 lead to start the fifth set, but the Gophers used two kills and a PSU attack error for a 4-2 advantage. A 3-1 PSU run had the set knotted at 5-5 before a Wilson kill put Penn State back in the lead, 6-5. The score tied twice more before a used a 3-0 run for a 10-7 advantage. McClendon cut off the run with a kill, but the Gophers fired right back to keep the three-point lead, 11-8. McClendon closed the gap to two with another kill, but Minnesota made it three with a kill, 12-9. Two Brown kills had Penn State within one, 12-11, and Minnesota taking a timeout. A Gopher attack error allowed Penn State to tie the score at 12-12. A block by Scott and Balza that gave Penn State a 13-12 edge sent Minnesota back to the bench. Penn State got into match point position, but two Gibbemeyer kills had the score tied up at 14-14. A Minnesota kill had the Gophers at match point, 15-14, but a Brown kill kept Penn State in the set. A ball handling error had the Lions in front, 16-15. Minnesota pounded a kill before a block by Wilson and Scott put Penn State in the lead again, 17-16. A Gopher block keeps the set going with the score at 17-17, but a Brown kill moved Penn State in the lead, 18-17. A kill and an ace by Minnesota had the Gophers leading 19-18, but McClendon tied it up at 19-19 with a kill. The score tied twice more before two straight Minnesota kills secured the fifth set for Minnesota, 23-21.
What's Next?
Penn State awaits its fate in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament Selection Show airs tomorrow from 3-3:30 p.m. on ESPNews. Penn State University and Rec Hall will serve as one of four host sites for the NCAA Regionals on Dec. 10-11.
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.