Sept. 19, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball (10-1) improved to 2-0 in the Penn State Alumni Classic with a dominant straight-set victory (25-8, 25-10, 25-13) against DePaul (2-8) Friday evening at Rec Hall.
Freshman Ali Frantti led the offense with nine kills on .571 hitting, while redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney and junior Megan Courtney followed close behind with six kills each. Whitney led the blocking effort with three blocks, while also notching a career-high two aces. Freshmen Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee tallied five kills each on eight errorless swings.
Defensively, senior Dominique Gonzalez finished tied for first on the team with six digs, while also equaling a career-high mark with three aces.
Senior Micha Hancock directed the Nittany Lions to a .586 team hitting clip in the win, matching a season-high mark with eight aces and six digs.
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Penn State opened the match on a scoring streak, using a 6-1 run capped off by three consecutive aces from Hancock to build an early advantage. A service error slowed the strike, but the Nittany Lions answered with five unanswered points to extend the lead to nine, 11-2.
The Blue Demons looked to spark some momentum with a quick 2-1 burst, 12-4, but Penn State tallied another four consecutive points to maintain a comfortable 12-point lead, 16-4. Using a 4-2 stretch, DePaul shaved the lead back to 10, 18-8. The Nittany Lions cut off the streak and closed out the frame on a 7-0 run, led by three more aces from Hancock to seal a 25-8 win in the first set.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to 7-1 start in the second set paced by two more aces from Hancock. DePaul rebounded with a 3-0 spurt, arriving within three, 7-4. Washington quickly sparked a 3-0 strike with a kill to push PSU ahead by six, 10-4. The Blue Demons responded with a pair of kills in between one from Penn State to keep within five, 11-6. The Nittany Lions answered with an 8-1 streak powered by four kills from Frantti to bolster the lead to 12, 19-7.
DePaul looked to trim the lead back with a 3-2 stretch, 22-10, but Penn State powered ahead with a 3-0 strike to take set two, 25-10.
The Nittany Lions used a 5-2 run, capped off by back-to-back aces from Whitney to build an early lead in set three. DePaul halted the streak with a kill, 5-3, but Penn State surged ahead on an 8-1 run to make it 10-3. The Blue Demons pounded another kill looking to spark a run, 10-4, but PSU answered with a 6-1 stretch to keep the lead in double digits, 16-5.
DePaul followed with a 4-2 run to narrow the margin to nine, 18-9, but the Nittany Lions did not let the advantage dip below 11 for the remainder of the match as Penn State concluded the final set on a 7-4 stretch to secure a 25-13 win.
Next up, the Nittany Lions return to the court for another pair of matches in the Penn State Alumni Classic. PSU kicks off Saturday, Sept. 20 with a 9 a.m. matchup against UIC, before closing out the evening with an 8 p.m. matchup against East Carolina. Prior to first serve against the Pirates, Penn State will raise the 2013 NCAA national championship banner.
With the victory, head coach Russ Rose moves into first place on the NCAA DI all-time wins list. With win number 1,135, Rose passes current Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji for the top spot. Shoji could potentially match Rose's tally this evening as the Rainbow Wahine are set to play Northern Arizona later this evening.