Nov. 18, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 12th-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team (20-7, 13-4) earned a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-12) victory against Big Ten foe Indiana (9-20, 1-16). Penn State is back in action on Saturday, Nov. 19 against No. 8 Purdue at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.
This is the 35th time the Penn State women's volleyball program has reached 20 wins in a season. The Nittany Lions have reached 20 wins every season under head coach Russ Rose.
Two Nittany Lions posted double-digit kills with sophomore Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) leading the way with 15, while sophomore Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) has 13. Freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 38 assists and sophomore Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) had 11. Sophomore Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) was a wall at the net with seven total blocks.
Penn State hit .385 against the Hoosiers and totaled 44 kills, six aces, 45 digs and 7.0 total team blocks. Indiana finished the match hitting .121 with 31 kills, two aces, 40 digs and 2.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions leapt out to a 9-2 lead in the first frame and never looked back. An Indiana timeout failed to slow Penn State has the Lions' lead grew to eight, 11-3, before a service error gave the ball to the Hoosiers. After a Hancock kill, McClendon pounded a kill to spark a 9-1 run to give Penn State a 20-7 lead. Indiana went on to tally four of the next five points to come within 10, 21-11. Penn State called a timeout and a solo block by Slay and kills by Scott and sophomore Maddie Martin (Tampa, Fla.) had the Lions at set point, 24-13. The Hoosiers tallied one final point before Martin closed out set one for PSU with a kill, 25-14.
Indiana took control early in the second stanza with a 6-3 lead. The Nittany Lions continued to trail until three straight Hoosier errors had the score knotted at 10-10. Indiana called a timeout and a kill from Kristen Seaton put the Hoosiers back on top, 11-10. McClendon tied it up at 11 all with a kill and the score tied five more times before another McClendon putdown and an IU error gave Penn State a two-point edge, 18-16. Indiana used a kill and an ace to tie it up again, this time at 18-18. A 3-1 PSU run gave Penn State a slim 21-19 advantage, but the Hoosiers fought back. A timeout slowed Penn State enough for the Hoosiers to tie the set one final time at 21-21. After a Penn State timeout, two IU errors and kills from Martin and Scott secured set two for PSU, 25-23.
Penn State wasted no time taking the lead in the third frame as Hancock recorded two aces to aid Penn State in taking a 6-0 lead. Indiana called a timeout and managed to close the gap to four, 8-4. However, a 7-3 Penn State run had the Nittany Lions leading by seven, 15-8. Two consecutive PSU errors had the Hoosiers within five, 15-10, but a 4-0 run moved the Lions ahead by nine, 19-10. Indiana used its second timeout to no avail. McClendon pounded three kills, while Scott and senior Katie Kabbes (Raleigh, N.C.) each added one to close out the set, 25-12.
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.