Nov. 5, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - No. 9 Penn State women's volleyball (20-4, 10-3) reached 20 wins for the 34th straight season with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) victory against No. 15 Michigan in a sold out Cliff Keen Arena. The match will air on ESPN2 on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.
Senior Blair Brown (Purcellville, VA.) led the Nittany Lions with 10 kills, while freshman Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) and senior Arielle Wilson (Broadview, Ill.) each tallied eight kills. Wilson surpassed the 1,000 career kills milestone against the Wolverines and heads into tomorrow night's match against Michigan State with 1,001. Sophomore Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) totaled 26 assists and led the team with 11 digs. Senior libero Alyssa D'Errico (Byron, N.Y.) was second on the team with 10 digs. Freshman Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) finished the match tying her personal-best with seven kills posted a career-high and team-best nine total blocks. Brown finished the night second on the team with a season-high six blocks.
Penn State hit .274 for the match and held the Wolverines to .069. The Nittany Lions totaled 41 kills, three aces, 34 digs and 15.0 total team blocks. Michigan finished the match with 34 kills, three aces, 33 digs and 4.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to an 8-1 lead against the Wolverines to start the match. Brown and Slay each register three blocks assists, while freshman Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) had a block and an ace. Two kills and a block by Michigan's Claire McElheny had the Wolverines within three, 8-5, but a Brown kill had PSU ahead by four, 9-5. A 4-1 PSU run had the Nittany Lions leading by six, 15-9, midway through the frame. Back-to-back kills by Lexi Zimmerman put the Wolverines within four, 15-11, but a Slay kill had Penn State back in front by five, 16-11. Michigan answered with a 3-0 run to cut the gap to two, 16-14, but two kills by Brown and a Slay block had Penn State ahead by five, 19-14, and Michigan calling a timeout. The Wolverines tallied a point after the timeout, but Brown put down another kill to keep PSU ahead by five, 20-15. An attack error increased Penn State's lead to six, 21-15, but a Penn State service error made it 21-16. Another Michigan attack error, a solo stuff and a kill by Scott had Penn State in set point position, 24-16. Michigan managed one final point on a PSU error before Scott closed out the set for the Nittany Lions, 25-17, with a kill.
Michigan took a 6-2 lead to start the second stanza. The Wolverines maintained control of the score until a block by McClendon and Slay and a Michigan attack error had the Lions within three, 11-8. Two Wolverine kills put Michigan back up by five, 13-8, but a 7-0 Penn State run put the Nittany Lions on top, 15-13. Brown had two kills and a block during the run, while Slay had a solo stuff and freshman Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) had an ace. A kill by Scott put the Nittany Lions in front by three, 16-13, but Michigan used two kills and capitalized on two PSU errors to knot the score at 17-17. Wilson put the Lions back in front with a kill, but another PSU error had the score tied at 18-18. Two consecutive Penn State kills had pushed Penn State in the lead by two, 20-18. Michigan called a timeout and the Wolverines cut PSU's lead to one, 20-19. Wilson pounded a kill top give Penn State some breathing room with a 21-19 edge. McElheny put down a kill to once again bring the Wolverines within one, but a Slay kill and a solo block by McClendon gave Penn State a 23-20 lead. After a second Michigan timeout, the Wolverines fought to within one, 23-22, and sent Penn State to the bench. A Brown kill had Penn State in set point position, 24-22, and a Longo ace secured set two for Penn State, 25-22.
Penn State leapt out to a 5-1 lead in the third set thanks to five Michigan errors. The Wolverines fought to within two of Penn State, 9-7, but kills from McClendon and Slay and a Michigan attack error had Penn State leading by five, 12-7. Following a Michigan timeout, Michigan cut Penn State's lead to three, 12-9, but two Slay kills and a Michigan attack error had the Nittany Lions in the lead by six, 15-9. The teams went back and forth with two kills by Scott and one from Brown keeping Penn State in the lead by six, 18-12. A 3-0 Michigan run had the Wolverines within three, 18-15, and the Nittany Lions called a timeout. Wilson and Slay each pounded a kill after the break to push Penn State ahead by five, 20-15. A Michigan kill and an ace had the Wolverines within three, 20-17, once again, but a joint stuff by Slay and Carpenter and a Slay kill had Penn State within three points of taking the match, 22-17. Michigan called a second timeout and tallied three straight points to cut the gap to two, 22-20. A Wolverine service error had Penn State leading 23-20, but McElheny put down a kill to make it 23-21. A Scott kill had the Lions in match point position and a Michigan attack error gave Penn State a 25-21 third set win.
What's Next?
Penn State is back in action tomorrow, Nov. 6, at Michigan State. The match is set to begin at 6:30 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.