Aug. 24, 2012
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball team (1-0) opened the season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-14) victory against Morehead State in the Active Ankle Challenge hosted by Louisville. Penn State is now 28-6 all-time in season openers.
Freshman Megan Courtney (Dayton, Ohio) led the Lions with nine kills, while juniors Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) and Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) posted six kills each. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 26 assists and sophomore Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) had a match-high 16 digs. Slay and Scott had seven blocks apiece, while sophomore Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio) had four.
Penn State hit .292 against the Eagles and totaled 36 kills, three aces, 43 digs and 14.0 team blocks. Morehead State registered a .027 hitting percentage and posted 31 kills, four aces, 42 digs and 3.0 team blocks.
Penn State opened the match taking a 6-1 lead after a kill and a block from Courtney and three Eagle errors. Morehead State crept within one, 7-6, but Penn State was leading by four, 13-9, midway through the set. Back-to-back Eagle kills brought MSU within two, 13-11, but a 4-0 Nittany Lion run had the Eagles taking a timeout. Despite another Morehead State kill, a Courtney kill, a Gonzalez ace and a MHU error had Penn State ahead by eight, 20-12. The Eagles tallied two points, but a 3-0 run by Penn State had the Lions within two points of winning set one, 23-14. Morehead State fought to within five, 23-18, with the aid of three consecutives aces. However, an error by the Eagles and a Courtney ace gave Penn State a 25-18 first set win.
The second stanza started out with neither team grabbing a strong lead until halfway through when the Nittany Lions developed a 12-8 advantage. After a Morehead State timeout, Penn State's lead great to six, 17-11, aided by two kills from Slay and one from Hancock. The Nittany Lions allowed the Eagles only four additional points before taking the set 25-15. Two kills by Scott and a block and a kill from Courtney helped the Nittany Lions down the final stretch.
In the final set, Penn State went ahead 6-2 to start. Morehead State called a timeout, but it failed to slow the Lions who moved ahead by seven, 11-4. Morehead State pounded a kill, but Penn State's run continued as a Hancock kill and a block by McClendon and Grant put Penn State up by nine, 14-5. Following a second Eagle timeout, the team's traded points with the Eagles coming no closer than six points, 20-14. Penn State closed out the match on a 5-0 run, which included an ace from freshman Kendal Pierce (Eden, N.Y.). The Nittany Lions won set three, 25-14.
Penn State is back on the court on Saturday, Aug. 25 against Western Kentucky at 1:30 p.m., followed by Louisville at 7:30 p.m.
For more information on the Penn State women's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women's volleyball 2012 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.
Penn State women's volleyball is on Twitter. Follow @PennStateVBALL. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatewomensvolleyball.