Sept. 13, 2014
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VILLANOVA, Pa. - Led by a duo of double-digit performers, No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball (7-1) rolled past Yale (1-4) in straight sets (25-14, 25-15, 25-15) Saturday afternoon at the Pavilion. With the victory, the Nittany Lions improve to 3-0 in the Villanova Classic.
Penn State returns to the court this evening to conclude the Villanova Classic with a match against No. 24 Kansas. First serve between the Nittany Lions and the Jayhawks is set for 5:30 p.m. in the Pavilion. A live stream of the match is available here with a paid subscription.
Senior Nia Grant and freshman Ali Frantti fueled the Penn State offense with a pair double-digit kills as the duo tallied 11 kills each without a single attack error. Frantti added five dig whsile Grant chipped in two digs and two blocks. Junior Megan Courtney finished second on the squad with eight kills, notching one ace and two dig.
Senior Micha Hancock paced the offense to a .419 hitting clip, passing out 35 assists to go along with five digs, two blocks and one ace on match point.
Freshman Haleigh Washington made her collegiate debut on the court finishing third on the team with six kills on .545 hitting, while also adding a solo stuff.
Tied early at 2-all in set one, Penn State put together a 7-0 streak capped off by an ace from Frantti to lift the Nittany Lions ahead by six, 9-2. A PSU error slowed the momentum, but Penn State regrouped with a 3-1 strike to remain in control of the lead, 12-4. Back-to-back PSU errors shaved the lead back to six, 12-6, but Grant and Frantti pounded two consecutive kills to open a 5-2 run that kept the Nittany Lions in front.
The Bulldogs looked to cut off the streak with a kill, 17-9, but a short 3-1 PSU strike pushed the Nittany Lion lead into double digits, 20-10. A Penn State blocking error and a Yale ace gave the Bulldogs another opportunity to get back on track, 20-12, but Penn State closed out the set on a 5-2 run to secure a 25-14 win in the opening frame.
Penn State charged out a 5-0 lead in set two, sparked by Washington's first collegiate kill. The Bulldogs answered with a 3-0 run, capped off by two consecutive kills to trim the gap to two, 5-3. The two teams traded errors, 6-4, before PSU used a 10-1 streak to stretch the lead to double digits, 16-5.
Yale attempted to settle into an offense rhythm with a pair of kills in between a service error, 17-7, but Hancock responded with a kill to keep the Nittany Lions on top, 18-7. From there, Penn State did not led the advantage dip below 10 as Penn State powered to a 25-15 win in the second set to go up 2-0 in the match.
The Nittany Lions got out to another hot start in set three, as Washington and Frantti tallied two kills each to help Penn State to a 5-1 early advantage. Yale answered with a quick 3-1 spurt to cut the lead to two, 6-4, but PSU surged ahead on an 8-4 stretch, bolstering the lead to six, 14-8.
The Bulldogs attempted to make a comeback with a quick 2-1 burst, 15-10, but the Nittany Lions held off the pressure, cruising to a 25-15 win in the third frame to complete the sweep.