Sep 7, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas - No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball (2-1) came up just short in a close 3-2 (27-25, 17-25, 25-13, 21-25, 10-15) loss to No. 6 Texas (3-1) in the opening match of the Nike Big Four Classic in Austin, Texas.
Senior Deja McClendon led the offense with her first double-double of the year, posting a season-high 20 kills and a squad-best 17 digs. Redshirt freshman Paulina Prieto Cerame and senior Katie Slay joined McClendon in double figures with 18 and 12 kills, respectively.
Junior Micha Hancock dished out a season-high 51 assists, adding two service aces and eight digs. Junior Nia Grant recorded a career-high three aces, while also registering four kills and four digs.
Junior Dominique Gonzalez and senior Maddie Martin both finished with double-digit digs, recording 13 and 10 each.
The match was closely contested from the start, as both Penn State and Texas traded points early in the opening set. With the frame knotted at 9-9, Hancock lifted the Nittany Lions ahead with a kill and an ace to make it 11-9. Despite pressure from the Longhorns, PSU held on to a one-point advantage, until a Penn State attacking error and a kill from Texas put UT in front, 18-16.
The set remained tight up until McClendon and Hancock fired back-to-back kills to secure a 27-25 victory in the first game.
Trailing midway through the second set, a kill from Prieto Cerame and an attacking error on Texas' Amy Neal put the Lions within four, 14-10. Unable to spark the offense, Penn State couldn't recover the advantage, tying the match at 1-1 following a 25-17 decision in set two.
After the break, PSU came out of the locker room strong and opened set three on a 9-4 run, led by three kills each from Prieto Cerame and McClendon. Later in the frame, Texas closed the gap to four, 14-10, helped out by two PSU serving aces, but the Lions closed out the set on an 11-3 streak to go up 2-1 in the match.
Tied at 6-all in the fourth, Texas used a 6-1 run to go up by as many as five points, 12-7. Penn State answered with a 7-1 spurt to tie the set, 13-13. Penn State registered five consecutive points during the streak, led by two service aces from Grant. From there, both clubs continued to trade points, until a kill from Slay knotted the frame, 21-21. The Longhorns used four more quick points to tie the match, 2-2.
Both teams battled point-for-point in the fifth, until a Nittany Lion service ace and kill from Molly McCage put Texas up by three, 11-8. PSU fought back within one, 11-10 helped out by a pair of consecutive kills from McClendon and Grant. From there, the Lions couldn't continue the momentum, as Texas capitalized on two PSU attacking errors, before adding two kills to take the set, 15-10 and the match, 3-2.
The Nittany Lions will return to action tomorrow morning, taking on No. 8 Florida at 11 a.m. ET to conclude the weekend in the Nike Big Four. The 2013 Penn State women's volleyball season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.