Sept. 20, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney led No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball (11-1) to a straight-set (25-18, 25-13, 25-16) victory against Illinois-Chicago (5-9) Saturday morning at Rec Hall. With the win, Penn State improves to 3-0 in the Penn State Alumni Classic.
Leading the team with 13 kills on .722 hitting, Whitney recorded her second double-digit kill performance of the season in the victory.
Junior Megan Courtney followed close behind with nine kills, while also logging six digs and a solo stuff. Senior Nia Grant and freshmen Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee all finished tied for third on the squad with seven kills each.
Senior Dominique Gonzalez anchored the defense with 10 digs, while also tallying a team-high three aces.
Senior Micha Hancock paced the squad to a .500 overall hitting percentage, passing out 38 assists to go along with five kills, two aces, three digs and one solo block. Penn State is back in action this evening, taking on East Carolina in the final match of the Penn State Alumni Classic at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall. Prior to first serve, the Nittany Lions will raise the NCAA national championship banner to honor the 2013 national championship season.
Holding on to a slim one-point lead, 4-3, early in set one, the Nittany Lions used a 5-0 lead, capped off with back-to-back aces from Gonzalez to grow the lead to six, 9-3. The Flames answered with two kills in between one from PSU to trim the advantage back to four, 10-6, but Penn State followed with a 3-0 spurt to remain on top, 13-6.
Regrouping, UIC came out of a timeout with a 5-2 run to charge within four-points of the lead, 15-11, but a service error kept the Nittany Lions in control of the lead, 16-11. From there, the Nittany Lions used a 9-5 stretch to secure a 25-16 win in the first set.
Penn State carried the momentum into the second set, using an early 12-4 scoring streak to construct a solid advantage. The Flames halted the run with a kill, 12-5, but Grant and Whitney paired up for two consecutive kills to widen the lead to eight, 14-6. Growing the lead to as many as 11, Penn State did not let the advantage dip below 10 for the remainder of the frame as the Nittany Lions cruised to a 25-13 win in set two to go up 2-0 in the match.
Leading by one in set three, 6-5, Penn State used a 3-1 spurt pull away with a three-point lead, 9-6. The Flames fired a kill to keep it close, 9-7, but Hancock and Whitney teamed up for back-to-back kills to extend the lead, 10-7. UIC continued to chip away at the advantage, using a 3-2 stretch to climb within three, 13-10. Penn State regrouped and closed out the set on a 12-6 run to win the final frame, 25-16.