Dec. 9, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 8 seed Penn State women's volleyball team (25-8) saw its season come to an end Friday night in the NCAA Regional Semifinals with a 3-0 (20-25, 22-25, 21-25) loss to ninth-seeded UCLA. The Nittany Lions postseason winning streak came to an end after 26 straight wins, a record in Division I NCAA women's volleyball.
Penn State is 74-26 overall in NCAA Tournament play. This was the team's ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Regional Semifinals. The Nittany Lions are one of just two programs to have participated in every NCAA postseason event since its inception in 1981.
Three Nittany Lions tallied double-digit kills with freshman Aiyana Whitney (Norwood, N.J.) leading the way with 12. She has just one error in 24 swings for a .458 attack percentage. Sophomore Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) was secodn on the team with 11, while sophomore Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) posted 10. Freshman Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.), the AVCA Mideast Region Freshman of the Year, dished out 38 assists and sophomore Ali Longo (Littleton, Colo.) posted 10. Scott, freshman Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio), Hancock and sophomore Katie Slay(Raleigh, N.C.) each had three blocks.
Penn State hit .248 against the Bruins (26-6) and finished the match with 43 kills, two aces, 31 digs and 7.0 total team blocks. The Bruins posted a .310 attack percentage and had 46 kills, four aces, 47 digs and 6.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions opened the match taking a 4-1 lead after two kills from Scott and one each from Martin and McClendon. The Bruins fought to within one, 4-3, but Penn State held on to the lead, eventually moving ahead by three, 9-6, with kills from Grant and McClendon. By midway through the set two consecutive kills from UCLA's Rachael Kidder and a PSU error had the score knotted at 12-12. Scott put one away to push Penn State back into the lead, but a 4-0 run by UCLA had the Bruins in the lead, 16-13. The Nittany Lions were unable to recover as UCLA's lead grew to five, 21-16. Penn State came within four on three occasions, but the Bruins tallied a kill for a 25-20 first set win.
Penn State trailed for the entirety of the second frame. Trailing by one, 11-10, nearing the halfway point of the set, a 5-1 UCLA run gave the Bruins a comfortable 16-11 advantage. Whitney sparked a 4-0 Nittany Lions run to tie the set at 16-16. The Bruins took the lead with a kill from Mariana Aquino, but another Whitney kill at the score at 17 all. A PSU service error and a kill from UCLA's Kelly Reeves moved the Bruins ahead by two, 19-17. After a Penn State timeout, UCLA's lead grew to four forcing another Penn State timeout. Another Reeves kill increased the Bruins' lead to five, 22-17. Penn State used kills from Slay and McClendon and a block to come within three, 23-20. UCLA called a timeout and despite an ace from Hancock and a UCLA error, the Bruins closed out set two, 25-22.
UCLA jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the third stanza. A Penn State timeout slowed the Bruins enough to allow Slay to pound to kills to close the gap to five, 8-3. The teams traded points with Penn State unable to come any closer than five until a kill by Hancock and two straight from Slay had Penn State trailing by only three, 14-11. A McClendon ace put the Lions within two, 14-12, but a kill from Kidder put the ball back in UCLA's control. Kidder's kill was part of a 5-1 run that pushed the Bruins ahead by six, 19-13. Whitney and Scott each put down a kill bringing Penn State within four, 19-15, but a putdown by Tabi Love and two straight aces gave UCLA a six-point lead, 22-16. A UCLA error and a McClendon kill started to pull momentum to Penn State and sent the Bruins to the bench. Another Bruin error brought Penn State within three, 22-19. McClendon managed two final kills for Penn State, but the Bruins maintained the lead to secure a 25-21 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.