Oct. 17, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team (19-1, 9-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 20 Ohio State, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22), on Wednesday night. Penn State is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Michigan.
Juniors Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Lions with 14 kills piece. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) paced the offense with 38 assists, while sophomore Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) had a team-best 15 digs. Sophomore Lacey Fuller (San Diego, Calif.) and junior Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) tied for second on the team with nine digs each. Slay had a team-high three blocks.
Penn State hit .342 against the Buckeyes and totaled 53 kills, four aces, 53 digs and 7.0 total team blocks. The Nittany Lions held the Buckeyes (15-6, 6-3 Big Ten) to a .144 hitting percentage. Ohio State posted 29 kills, seven aces, 47 digs and 5.0 team blocks.
The first set started out close, but Ohio State managed to take a two-point lead, 8-6. A 3-0 Penn State run had the Lions leading by one, 9-8. After a kill by OSU's Mari Hole, a 6-2 run by the Nittany Lions had Penn State with a comfortable 15-11 advantage. Ohio State tallied two straight points to come within two, 15-13, but kills from McClendon, sophomore Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio), freshman Megan Courtney (Dayton, Ohio) and Scott had the Nittany Lions back ahead by four, 19-15. The Buckeyes called a timeout and put down three straight kills to close the gap to one, 19-18. After a Penn State timeout, an OSU error and a Slay kill moved the Lions ahead by three, 21-18. Despite an error, the Nittany Lions registered the next three points to be at set point, 24-19. Ohio State held the Lions for two points before Slay pounded a kill for a 25-21 set one win.
The Nittany Lions leapt out to a 7-0 lead to start the second frame. Ohio State fired back with a 6-0 run to cut the Penn State lead to one, 7-6. Penn State maintained the lead until two consecutive errors had the score knotted at 11-11. Back-to-back Nittany Lions kills pushed PSU ahead by two, 13-11. The Buckeyes managed to come within one a final time at 15-14, but a 4-1 PSU run had Penn State with a four-point lead, 19-15. Ohio State called a timeout and pounded a kill to be within three, 19-16. Penn State allowed the Buckeyes just three additional points before two kills from Slay and one from junior Maddie Martin (Tampa, Fla.) secured set two for PSU, 25-19.
The third set began much like the first with neither team developing a lead early. Trailing 11-10 near the midpoint, a 4-0 Penn State run had the Lions leading 14-11. A 3-0 run by the Buckeyes had the score tied at 14-14, but an OSU error and kills from Slay and Scott moved Penn State back on top, 17-14. The Buckeyes fought back to tie it at 18-18. Slay pounded a kill, however an PSU kill and a Nittany Lion error had the Buckeyes in the lead, 20-19. Another PSU error put Penn State behind by two, but to straight Scott kills had the Lions tying it at 21-21. The score tied one final time before a Grant kill, a Martin ace and an OSU error closed out set three for PSU, 25-22.
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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