Nov. 12, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. - The ninth-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team (19-7, 12-4 Big Ten) earned a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-17) victory at Northwestern (15-12, 6-10 Big Ten) Saturday evening. Sophomore Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led the Lions with 20 kills against the Wildcats.
Freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 42 assists, while sophomore Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) had a team-best 12 digs. Freshman Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) and McClendon each tallied 10 digs apiece. Sophomore Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) had a match-high six blocks and freshman Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio) posted four.
Penn State hit .346 against the Wildcats and totaled 47 kills, three aces, 49 digs and 12.0 team blocks. Northwestern registered a .126 attack percentage and finished the match with 29 kills, one ace, 42 digs and 5.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions took the lead early in set one, 3-1, and never lost control. Northwestern came within one, 5-4, but a 5-1 run had Penn State ahead by five, 10-5. The Wildcats closed the gap to three, 11-8, but kills from McClendon, sophomore Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Slay had the Lions leading by six 14-8. Northwestern worked to within four, 16-12, but McClendon pounded three kills to push Penn State ahead by six, 19-13. Penn State continued to dominate set one as back-to-back kills by Slay served to keep the Lions comfortably ahead, 21-15. Northwestern tallied two straight points to be within four, 21-17, and Penn State called a timeout. Slay and sophomore Maddie Martin (Tampa, Fla.) followed the timeout with a huge block before Grant and Martin each put down a kill to be at set point, 24-18. Despite a service error, Hancock dumped the ball over the net for a kill to win, 25-18.
Penn State leapt out to a 5-1 lead in the second stanza and never looked back. The Lions maintained at least a three-point advantage until a 6-0 run saw Penn State take a 17-8 lead after two consecutive aces from Hancock. Northwestern stopped the run with a timeout and secured a point off a PSU error. However, the Wildcats were unable to develop any momentum as kills from Slay and Scott and two NU errors put Penn State's lead into double-digits, 21-11. Stephanie Holthus notched to straight kills for the Wildcats, but it was too little, too late. After a NU service error, McClendon put away three straight kills to help Penn State win set two, 25-14.
Northwestern took a slim 4-2 lead to start the third frame, but a 4-0 Penn State run saw the Lions take a 6-4 lead. After a kill from Katie Dutchman, one kill each from Scott and Martin and a joint stuff by Hancock and Grant moved Penn State ahead by four, 9-5. After a Wildcat timeout, Penn State continued to dominate as a 6-2 run had the Lions leading by seven, 15-8. A Northwestern kill and block saw the Wildcats cut Penn State's lead to five, 15-10. However, a 4-1 Nittany Lions pushed Penn State's lead to eight, 19-11. Northwestern registered a block, but Penn State answered back with back-to-back blocks to be within four, 21-12, of winning the match. Two kills from Yewande Akani and one from Holthus kept the Wildcats in the match as the Lions moved towards match point, 23-16. McClendon put down a kill to put Penn State at match point, 24-16, but a service error gave the ball to the Wildcats. McClendon closed out the match for PSU with a kill for a 25-17 third set win.
Penn State is back in action on Nov. 18-19 at home in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions host Indiana on Friday and Purdue on Saturday with both matches starting at 7 p.m. Penn State will celebrate Senior Night on Nov. 19, honoring seniors Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) and Megan Shifflett (Falls Church, Va.).
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.