Oct. 26, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team (18-2, 9-1) extended its winning streak to nine consecutive matches with a 3-0 sweep (25-8, 25-8, 25-11) against Iowa (10-12, 1-9) Saturday evening in Rec Hall.
Senior Deja McClendon tallied eight kills, one ace and a matched a season-high mark with four blocks in the Nittany Lion victory. McClendon also tallied 10 digs to eclipse the 1,000 career digs mark. With 1,004 all-time digs and 1,431 career kills, McClendon is now the fifth student-athlete in program history to record more than 1,000 career digs and kills.
Senior Ariel Scott led the offense with 11 kills on 23 swings with just one error for a .435 hitting percentage, adding one dig and three blocks. Senior Katie Slay led the defense with six total blocks, including one solo stuff. Junior Nia Grant chipped in six kills on a squad-best .625 hitting clip, adding one dig and five total blocks. Freshman Kelly Robertson matched a career-high mark with three kills, including the final kill of the match.
Junior Micha Hancock guided the offense to a .458 hitting percentage, distributing 36 assists, while also matching a season-high mark with eight aces. The Nittany Lions held the Hawkeyes to a -.047 hitting clip, marking the second consecutive match PSU has held an opponent to a negative attacking percentage.
Penn State came out firing in the opening frame, using an 8-1 run for an early lead, led by three aces from Hancock. The Hawkeyes tried to regroup with a kill from Erin Radke, but McClendon and Scott pounded a pair of back-to-back kills to move the Nittany Lions ahead, 10-2.
After capitalizing on an Iowa attack error for an 11-2 lead, the Hawkeyes attempted to spark some momentum with another kill by Radke, but PSU responded with a 13-5 streak, capped off with a Hawkeye service error, putting senior Maggie Harding at the line for set-point.Iowa thwarted the attempt with a block, but Slay answered back with a kill to secure a 25-8 win in the first stanza.
Leading 8-4 in the second set, Penn State used a 7-0 strike to move ahead by as many as 11, 15-4. The Hawkeyes used a 2-1 spurt to cut the lead back to 10, 16-6, but the Nittany Lions delivered a 6-1 run to surge ahead, 22-7. A PSU attack error gave Iowa an opportunity to slow down the momentum, but Penn State quickly rattled off the next three points to lock up set two, 25-8.
The Nittany Lions shot out to another large advantage in the third set, leading 11-4 led by three kills from Scott. Iowa put an end to the streak with a kill, followed by a PSU attack error to move within five, 11-6. Scott smacked a kill to stop the run, before the Hawkeyes committed two consecutive attacking errors to give Penn State a 14-6 advantage.
Looking to mount a comeback, Iowa used a 3-1 run to jump within six, 15-9, before Penn State closed out the frame on a 10-2 stretch, scoring eight of the final nine points to earn a 25-11 victory and complete the sweep.
Penn State hits the road next weekend for a pair of Big Ten matchups against some familiar foes. The Nittany Lions take on Michigan and Michigan State in back-to-back matches set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2.