Oct. 5, 2013
Final Stats I Final Stats (PDF)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 5 Penn State women's volleyball team (12-2, 3-1) battled to a 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 26-16, 22-25, 15-11) victory on the road at No. 24 Purdue (10-5, 1-3), marking the third straight conference victory for the Nittany Lions.
Junior Micha Hancock earned her first double-double of the season distributing 45 kills, 13 digs and two aces. Senior Deja McClendon also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs, adding two blocks.
Seniors, Katie Slay and Ariel Scott also recorded double figure kills, led by Scott, who tallied a team-high 15, adding six blocks. Slay tallied 11 kills, while also matching a season-high mark with a team-best eight blocks. Junior Dominique Gonzalez anchored the defense with 14 digs.
Trailing early, 3-1, Scott connected on a kill and Courtney followed with a solo block to knot the set. Purdue answered with a kill to pull ahead managed to maintain the narrow lead until an attacking error tied the game once more, 10-10.
The Nittany Lions struggled to regroup, as a service error pushed Purdue back on top. The Boilermakers continued to pull ahead, taking a six-point lead, 19-13, after 4-0 run, causing Penn State to call a timeout. Following the break, PSU attempted an offensive push with kills from McClendon and Grant, in between an attack error on Purdue to make it 21-16. The Boilermakers rattled off the next four kills to take the opening set, 25-16.
Penn State opened the second set on a 5-1 run, helped out by two straight kills from Scott and Slay and an ace from Hancock. Purdue answered back with a pair of kills and an ace of their own to cut the lead back to two, 5-7. The Nittany Lions followed with a 3-0 spurt to secure a five-point cushion, 10-5.
Erasing the deficit, the Boilermakers climbed within three, 13-10, before PSU used a 6-2 stretch to capture a seven-point lead, 19-12. Purdue remained close behind, connecting on three kills and block to make it, 21-17. Capitalizing on a Boilermaker service error, Scott pounded two skills to give the Lions a, 24-18 edge. Purdue thwarted three straight set-point attempts with two kills and a Penn State attack error before Slay smacked a final kill to tie the match, 1-1.
PSU shot out to a 4-0 start in the third set with kills from Scott and McClendon, but the Boilermakers responded with four straight kills to knot up the frame, 4-all. Penn State broke open the tie on a 6-1 run, capped off by two consecutive kills from Slay to go up, 10-5.
Later in the frame, Purdue fought within four, 14-10, but the Nittany Lions were able to hold off the pressure, as Scott and Slay followed a solo stuff from Courtney with a pair of back-to-back blocks to make it, 20-12. From there, the Nittany Lions cruised to a 25-16 win in the third frame to take a 2-1 lead in the game.
Leading by one in the fourth stanza, 13-12, two Purdue attacking errors lifted Penn State ahead, 15-12. The Boilermakers used a 3-0 streak to move ahead, 17-15, but both clubs continued to fight point-for-point until a Purdue kill made it set-point, 24-22. Senior Maddie Martin, attempted to hold off the Boilermakers with a kill, but an error from behind the service line forced the match into a fifth set.
Penn State captured an early 4-1 lead in the deciding fifth frame, helped out by kills from Slay and Courtney and a block by Scott and Slay. The Boilermakers shaved the lead to two, 4-2 with a kill, but Slay tallied another kill, followed by a block from Grant and Scott to make it, 6-2, forcing Purdue to call timeout.
Up 8-3 after the switch, Hancock and Grant combined for kills to extend the Penn State advantage to six, 10-4. Purdue attempted to halt the momentum with a kill, 10-6, but PSU rallied with a 4-1 run to make it match-point, 14-7. Unable to mount a comeback, McClendon slammed a kill to give Penn State a 15-8 victory in the match.
Next up, the Nittany Lions return home to Rec Hall for a pair of conference matchups. Penn State will host No. 8 Minnesota Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m., before taking on Wisconsin Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8:30 p.m. The midweek tilt between PSU and the Golden Gophers will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.