Nov. 24, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 2012 Big Ten Champion and top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-15) win against Michigan State (23-9, 11-9 Big Ten) Saturday night. Penn State closed out the regular season with a 29-2 overall record and a 19-1 record in Big Ten play.
The Nittany Lions await their fate in the NCAA Tournament, which begins the weekend of Nov. 30. The NCAA Women's Volleyball National Championship Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.
Freshman Megan Courtney (Dayton, Ohio) posted a team-high nine kills on .529 hitting. Juniors Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) put down eight kills apiece. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 24 assists, while junior Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led the team in digs with 12. Slay had a match-high eight blocks and Courtney put up six.
Penn State hit .304 against the Spartans and totaled 35 kills, four aces, 33 digs and 14.0 total team blocks. The Spartans were held to .029 hitting with 33 kills, no aces, 44 digs and 2.0 team blocks.
Michigan State took a 4-2 lead in set one, but Penn State responded with a 6-0 run, including three straight blocks, for an 8-4 advantage. The Spartans called a timeout, but Penn State was unfazed and used a 5-1 run to increase its lead to eight, 13-5. After a second MSU timeout, the Spartans managed to fight to within five, 15-10, but three errors and a kill by Scott had the Lions with an 18-11 lead. Three Slay kills, two from Courtney and a Gonzalez ace helped Penn State close out set one. Penn State allowed the Spartans only two additional points as the Nittany Lions won the set, 25-13.
The Spartans leapt out to a 5-0 lead in the second stanza before three MSU errors put Penn State on the board, 6-3. After two more points by the Spartans, Penn State called a timeout and used a 7-2 run to knot the score at 10-10. A Michigan State error moved Penn State into the lead, 11-10, but the score would tie nine more times before a solo stuff by Hancock and a McClendon kill had Penn State up by two, 21-19. Michigan State used a timeout, but a solo block by Slay moved Penn State ahead by three, 22-19. Despite a Spartan kill and a PSU error that had MSU within two, 23-21, Michigan State recorded an attack error to move PSU into set point, 24-21. Scott pounded a kill to secure set two for Penn State, 25-21.
The third frame started out close. However, with Penn State leading 8-6, three consecutive Nittany Lions kill had Penn State with a five-point advantage, 11-6. Michigan State called a timeout and used a 4-0 run to close the gap to one, 11-10. McClendon pounded a kill to spark a 6-1 run to give Penn State a comfortable 17-11 lead. The Spartans headed back to the bench and tallied the next two points to be within four, 17-13. A joint block by Courtney and Slay and a Hancock kill gave Penn State its seven-point lead back, 20-13. The Spartans scored one final point off a kill, but it wasn't enough as a Courtney Ace and a Slay putdown gave Penn State a 25-15 third set victory.
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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