Nov. 8, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 2 Penn State women's volleyball team (21-2, 12-1) knocked off No. 14 Purdue (16-8, 7-6) in straight-sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) Friday evening in Rec Hall, marking the 12th consecutive victory for the Nittany Lions.
The triumph also extends the PSU home court winning streak against the Boilermakers to 25 straight matches, as Penn State has not lost a home contests to the Boilermakers since 1982.
McClendon led the offense with 13 kills, posting four digs and one block. Senior Katie Slay and junior Nia Grant followed with nine kills each. Grant registered a squad-best .727 hitting percentage, while Slay notched a team-high five blocks. Junior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .316 attacking percentage, dishing out 35 assists, two blocks and one ace, while leading the squad with nine digs.
Both clubs opened the match battling point-for-point, until Purdue used a 4-1 run for a two-point edge, 7-5. As the Boilermakers continued to maintain the narrow advantage, Penn State managed to knot the frame, 11-11. Purdue followed with a pair of kills in between a kill from Scott to remain on top, 13-12. The Nittany Lions answered back with a 3-0 spurt, featuring back-to-back kills from Grant for a two-point lead, 15-13, forcing Purdue to call a timeout.
After the break, the Boilermakers tallied three consecutive kills to jump within one, 16-15. Rallying, McClendon pounded back-to-back kills, sparking a 10-2 run that carried PSU to a 25-18 victory in the first set.
Penn State shot out to an 8-3 advantage in the second set. The Nittany Lions continued to pull away, as Courtney, Grant, McClendon and Scott added kills to help PSU double its advantage, 12-6. Purdue used up its first timeout of the stanza after Slay and McClendon posted up for a block to make it 13-6. Surging ahead, the Nittany Lions bolstered the lead to as many as nine, 19-10. Rebounding, the Boilermakers chipped away the steady advantage, 22-15, before connecting on four consecutive kills to climb within three, 22-19.
Regrouping, Slay spiked a kill to slow the momentum, but Purdue answered with a kill to stay in the game, 23-20. The Boilermakers followed with an attack error to put Penn State at set-point, 24-20. Purdue managed to hold off two set-point attempts before Courtney locked up a 25-22 win in the second set with a kill to put PSU up 2-0 in the match.
Penn State and Purdue kept it tight early in the third frame as neither team could construct more than a three-point lead. Trailing 8-5, Penn State went on a 4-0 strike to claim a one-point lead, 9-8, forcing the Boilermakers to call a timeout. Both teams continued fighting point-for-point until redshirt freshman Paulina Prieto Cerame and Scott smacked a pair of consecutive kills to lift the Lions ahead, 20-18.
Unable to shake the Boilermakers for good, Purdue managed to shave the lead to two, 23-21. Grant responded with a kill to make it match-point, before a Boilermaker error handed Penn State a 25-21 victory in the third set, completing the sweep.
Penn State returns to the court tomorrow night, taking on Indiana in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions and the Hoosiers square off at 7 p.m. PSU will host JDRF night to support Juvenile Diabetes Awareness.