CHICAGO, Ill. - The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team suffered a 3-2 (17-25, 25-17, 11-25, 25-17, 15-12) setback to Oregon State Saturday night. Penn State (6-1) is back in action on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET against UIC to close out the Chicago Classic.
Junior Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) led Penn State with 14 kills, while classmate Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) posted 13. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) paced the offense with 49 assists and was one of three players to record two aces. Sophomore Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) had a match-high 19 digs. Freshman Megan Courtney (Dayton, Ohio) posted 14 digs and McClendon recorded 12. Junior Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) and McClendon each had four blocks.
The Beavers hit .229 with Penn State not far behind at .205. The Nittany Lions had 58 kills, seven aces, 65 digs and 8.5 total team blocks. Oregon State totaled 50 kills, three aces, 59 digs and 8.0 team blocks.
After a close start initially, Penn State grabbed an 8-5 lead with a kill and a block by Courtney and a kill from McClendon. The Nittany Lions maintained at least a two-point edge through the midpoint of the set before going on a 5-1 run for an 18-11 lead. An OSU kill cut off the Penn State run, but kills from Grant and Slay helped Penn State move closer to a first set win. With the Nittany Lions leading 20-15, back-to-back Beaver errors had Oregon State trailing by seven, 22-15. The Beavers called a timeout, but it did little to slow the Nittany Lions. Kills from McClendon and Grant and a Hancock ace closed out set one for Penn State, 25-17.
Despite opening the set with a 5-3 lead, an 8-2 run by the Beavers had Oregon State on top, 11-7. After a Penn State timeout, four Oregon State kills to just two by Penn State had the Beavers with a six-point lead, 15-9. Two straight attack errors by the Beavers had Penn State within four, 15-11. However, Penn State was unable to develop any momentum to take control of the set. Oregon State continued to lead and was up by six, 20-14, when the Lions used a timeout. Hancock moved the Nittany Lions within five, 20-15, but a PSU attack error and a Beaver kill put the Lions behind by seven, 22-15. McClendon pounded a kill before Grant and Scott teamed up for a block to close the gap to five, 22-17. Oregon State called a timeout and the Beavers closed out the set on a 3-0 run for a 25-17 win.
Penn State wasted no time in the third set and was leading 8-4 after two consecutive Courtney kills. Oregon State called a timeout and fought to within three, 11-8. The Nittany Lions fired back with a 6-1 run for a comfortable 17-9 lead. After a service error by the Lions, McClendon pounded a kill and tallied an ace to help Penn State increase its lead to nine, 19-10. Penn State closed out set four on a 5-1 run, with two kills from Scott and a kill and a block from Slay for a 25-11 victory.
Oregon State took control in set four and was leading 13-9 by the midpoint of the set. Penn State called a timeout and capitalized on an ace from Gonzalez and a service error by the Beavers to move within three, 14-11. The Beavers responded with a 4-1 run for a six-point lead, 18-12. Hancock pounded a kill and Courtney notched an ace to move within four, 18-14, but two straight errors had the Beavers back ahead by six, 10-14. Penn State used a second timeout and kills from Slay and McClendon had PSU behind by only four, 20-16. The Beavers used a timeout and allowed the Nittany Lions just on final point, a kill by Hancock, before claiming set four, 25-17.
After kills from Scott and McClendon and an Oregon State error, Penn State had a 3-1 lead to start the fifth and final set. The Beavers managed to tie the set at 5-5, but a Slay kill pushed Penn State back in front, 6-5. The score tied twice more before a McClendon kill had the Lions leading 8-7 and switching sides of the net. Oregon State called a timeout and used a 3-0 run to move ahead, 10-8. Penn State called a timeout and moved to within one, 11-10, but an Oregon State block moved the Beavers ahead by two, 12-10. Penn State used its final timeout and Courtney pounded a kill before an OSU error to allow the Nittany Lions to make it 12-all. Oregon State headed to the bench and thanks to a kill and two PSU errors, the Beavers claimed the set, 15-12, for the match win.
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.
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