Aug. 27, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After 94 consecutive home match victories, an NCAA women's volleyball record, the Penn State women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22) setback to Oregon (1-0) at home in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions are now tied in the series with Oregon at 1-1.
Penn State's record-breaking home match winning streak began on Sept. 1, 2006 against Eastern Kentucky and encompassed almost five complete seasons. Penn State's last home win was on Dec. 10, 2010 in the NCAA Regional Championship against Duke. In NCAA team sports of records, only a trio of men's basketball streaks (Kentucky, 1943-55 [129]; St. Bonaventure, 1948-61 [99]; UCLA, 1970-76 [98]) outranks the Nittany Lions' home court run.
Sophomore Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led the Nittany Lions with 15 kills, while sophomore Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) posted 14 and sophomore Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) tallied a career-high 11. Junior Kristin Carpenter (Mechanicsville, Va.) was the starting setter and tallied 32 digs and freshman Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) had a team-high nine digs. Senior Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) had a match-high five total blocks and McClendon was second on the team with four.
Penn State out-hit, out-served and out-blocked the Ducks. The Nittany Lions hit .308 to Oregon's .277, posted five aces to Oregon's four and 8.5 total team blocks to the Ducks' 5.5. Oregon posted 62 kills to Penn State's 48 and 53 digs to PSU's 43.
Despite trailing early in set one, the Nittany Lions used a 6-3 run to tie it up early, 6-6. McClendon pounded a kill to give the Lions their first lead. However it wasn't until a kill by Slay and a McClendon ace, which put the Nittany Lions ahead 10-8, that the Nittany Lions took the lead for good. With an 11-10 edge, a Slay kill sparked a 4-0 run to give Penn State a 15-10 advantage. The Ducks closed the gap to three, 15-12, but a 5-0 PSU run put Penn State up by a comfortable eight point, 20-12. Oregon called a timeout, but it was too little too late. The Nittany Lions allowed the Ducks only four more points before a triple block by Carpenter, sophomore Maddie Martin (Tampa, Fla.) and Slay secured set one for PSU, 25-16.
Oregon took control from the start in set two and developed a four-point lead, 8-4. Despite two kills by the Ducks, a McClendon putdown and two Oregon errors had Penn State within two, 10-8. The Ducks called a timeout and managed to create a four-point cushion, 15-11. McClendon cut off the run with a kill before three joint blocks by Kabbes and McClendon put the Nittany Lions in the lead, 16-15. The score tied twice more before two straight points by the Ducks had Oregon leading, 19-17. Penn State called a timeout, but Oregon's lead grew to three, 21-18 forcing Penn State to use a second timeout. The Nittany Lions managed three more points before an error gave Oregon set two, 25-21.
The third frame was close at the start, but by midway through the set Oregon was leading 15-12. The Nittany Lions closed the gap to one, 16-15, but two kills and an ace by the Ducks had Oregon leading by four, 20-16. Penn State called a timeout and a McClendon kill sent Oregon to the bench. The Nittany Lions fought to within two, 22-20, after kills by freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) and Slay. However, a kill by Oregon's Alaina Bergsma sent the Nittany Lions back to the drawing board. A kill and an ace by the Ducks gave Oregon a 25-20 third set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Oregon dominated the beginning of the fourth and final stanza, developing a six-point advantage, 13-7. Back-to-back kills by Scott brought the Lions within four, 13-9, but an Oregon kill and a PSU error had the Ducks back up by six, 14-9. Scott tallied a kill for the Nittany Lions and Oregon called a timeout. Despite the timeout, the Nittany Lions regrouped and began to make a comeback. Trailing by four, 18-14, the Lions began a 6-0 run which tied the set at 20-20. The Ducks called a timeout, but an error by Oregon gave Penn State its first lead of the set. As quick as the momentum shifted in favor of the Nittany Lions, it shifted right back with two straight kills by Katherine Fischer to give the Ducks back the lead, 22-21. Penn State called a final timeout, but three Duck kills closed out the set, 25-22, and the match with Oregon on top.
Penn State is back in action on Saturday, Aug. 27 against No. 2 USC (1-0) at 8 p.m. No. 12 Minnesota takes on Oregon in the earlier match at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Rec Hall ticket office. Adult tickets are $8 each and Youth (18 and under) tickets are $5. Penn State Students are Free with ID+ card. Groups of 15 or more can be purchased at the door and are $5 each.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2011 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.