Sept. 15, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 4 Penn State women's volleyball team (9-1) defeated Duquesne in this morning's 10 a.m. match with a 3-0 win (25-16, 25-16, 25-16) to begin the final day of the Penn State Classic. The Nittany Lions face Eastern Illinois tonight at 8 p.m.
Junior Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) led the team with 12 kills and a .579 hitting percentage. Freshman Megan Courtney (Dayton, Ohio) and junior Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) followed with eight kills apiece. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) had nine digs and 36 assists, while junior Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) had a team-high five blocks.
Penn State hit .321 against the Dukes and finished the match with 48 kills, four aces, 34 digs and 10.5 total team blocks. Duquesne registered a .087 attack percentage and had 26 kills, one ace, 40 digs and 3.0 team blocks.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 9-3 lead to start the match. The Dukes used a 3-1 run to narrow the gap to four, 10-6, but a 7-2 run Nittany Lion had PSU leading 17-8. After a timeout by Duquesne, Penn State continued with a 4-1 run for a strong 21-10 advantage. The Dukes used their final timeout and brought the Nittany Lion lead down into single digits, 22-13. However, kills by McClendon and sophomore Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio) helped Penn State come away with a 25-16 first set win.
After Penn State took a 4-0 lead to start the second frame, the Dukes fought to within one, 7-6. The teams traded points for a short period of time before a 7-2 Penn State run had the Lions leading, 17-10. Duquesne took a timeout and scored two straight points to make it 17-12. Despite a kill from Slay, a block and a kill from the Dukes brought Duquesne within four, 18-14. A 4-1 Penn State run, sparked by a Hancock kill, moved Penn State back into the lead by seven, 22-15. Duquesne headed to the bench and managed one final point before two errors and a kill by Courtney secured set two for PSU, 25-16.
The third stanza was close at the start with the score knotted at 11-11 midway through the set. Scott pounded a kill to begin a 4-0 run for a 15-11 edge. Duquesne called a timeout and grabbed two points off a kill and a Penn State error to make it 15-13. The Dukes stayed within four points until near the end of the set. With Penn State leading 19-15, kills from McClendon, Grant and Scott had the Lions within two points of the win, 23-6. Grant teamed up with Scott for a block to make it set point for PSU, 24-16. An attack error by the Dukes closed out the set for Penn State, 25-16.
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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