Dec. 2, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 8 seed Penn State earned a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-16) victory against Liberty (20-13) to advance to the second round of the 2011 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. The Nittany Lions (24-7) face Delaware (21-12) on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Tickets will be on sale prior to the match at the Rec Hall ticket office. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for youth and students and $5 for groups of 20 or more. The first 400 students with a valid Penn State ID will be admitted free.
Sophomore Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) led all players with 16 kills on .452 hitting. Sophomore Maddie Martin (Tampa, Fla.) was second on the team with eight kills, while sophomore Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) added seven. Freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) paced the offense with 36 assists and tied for first on the team with 10 digs. Martin and sophomore Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) also posted 10 digs apiece. Slay led the team in blocks with two.
Penn State hit .337 against the Flames and totaled 46 kills, five aces, 52 digs and 4.0 total team blocks. Liberty registered a .075 attack percentage and had 27 kills, one ace, 42 digs and 5.0 team blocks.
Liberty took an early 5-3 lead to start the match. It wasn't until midway through the frame that a 4-0 run sparked by a Slay kill that Penn State took control, 13-10. Liberty called a timeout and fought to within one, 14-13. However, another 4-0 run by the Lions had Penn State in front by five, 18-13. Two PSU errors had the Flames trailing by only three, 18-15, but a Scott putdown and a Flame error put the Lions back in the lead by five, 20-15. Liberty used its second timeout, but Penn State close out the set with five straight points for a 25-16 win.
Penn State wasted no time in the second stanza as the Lions jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Scott had four kills to aid Penn State early on. The Flames were unable to slow Penn State as two kills from freshman Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio) and one from Slay helped increase PSU's lead to 10, 18-8. Liberty called a timeout, but Penn State's lead continued to grow to 12, 21-9. After a PSU error, three straight kills by Liberty had the Flames within eight, 21-13, and Penn State calling a timeout. After the break, the Flames tallied three final points before two Scott kills and a block from freshman Aiyana Whitney (Norwood, N.J.) secured a 25-16 second set win.
The Nittany Lions opened the third set with a 4-1 lead, but the Flames kept it close battling to within one, 5-4. A Martin kill and a Liberty error moved Penn State ahead by three, 7-4. The Nittany Lions would maintain at least a two-point lead for the remainder of the set. Midway through the stanza with a 12-9 lead, Penn State took off on a 6-1 run for a 18-10 lead. Two Liberty timeouts failed to faze the Lions as the two teams traded points and Penn State remained ahead by eight, 20-12. The Flames continued to fight with kills from Rebecca Warren and Loren Thomas, but Penn State was too far ahead. Slay pounded on final kill for the Lions before a Liberty error gave Penn State a 25-16 victory.
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.