Oct. 11, 2014
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| Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. | |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 5 Penn State women's volleyball (16-3, 4-2) fell short in comeback effort as No. 15 Illinois (12-5, 4-2) outlasted the Nittany Lions in four sets (24-26, 25-16, 23-25, 22-25) to) Saturday afternoon at Rec Hall.
Four Nittany Lions contributed double-digit kills, led by redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney, who totaled 15 kills to match a career-high mark. Freshman Haleigh Washington posted a career-high 14 kills on 26 errorless swings, hitting .538. Washington also led the blocking unit with seven blocks, including one solo stuff.
Senior Nia Grant and freshman Ali Frantti rounded out the group of double-digit performers with 13 kills each. Frantti notched three aces, seven digs and four blocks, while Grant posted three digs and three blocks.
Senior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .310 hitting clip, dishing out 53 assists to go along with eight kills, three aces, eight digs and four blocks.
A trio of Nittany Lions led the defensive effort with double-digit digs. Junior Megan Courtney finished first on the squad with 13 digs, while senior Dominique Gonzalez finished close behind with 12. Senior Lacey Fuller joined the pair with 10 digs.
"I thought we had a great opportunity today, especially when we came out as strong as we did in the first game," head coach Russ Rose said. "We had a great crowd and the band did a terrific job. We had everything going for us, but we didn't play as a team. That rests with me. I have to find a way to get them to play a little bit better together."
Penn State opened the match on a 6-1 streak to take control of the lead, causing the Illini to call an early timeout. The Illini came out of the break with a kill to cut off the momentum, 6-2, before Washington, Grant and Courtney sparked an 8-2 run that pushed the Nittany Lion lead into double digits, 14-4.
Illinois began chipping away at the advantage with a 3-2 strike, before a 3-1 PSU spurt featuring a kill from Whitney and an ace by Frantti lifted Penn State up, 19-8. Unable to settle into a rhythm, the Illini battled back with a 7-1 run to charge within five, 20-15, forcing PSU to call a timeout.
Grant looked to regroup, sparking a 3-2 spurt with a kill to keep the Nittany Lions on top, 23-17. Illinois came storming back with five unanswered points to pull within one, 23-22. Frantti put down a kill to lift Penn State to set point, 24-22, but the Illini answered with the next four straight points to secure set one, 26-24.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 7-3 advantage in the second set capped off by four consecutive kills from Whitney, Grant and Hancock. The Illini stopped the streak with a kill, but a service error and another kill from Hancock kept PSU ahead by five, 9-4. Illinois looked to trim the gap with a 2-1 burst, but PSU followed with an 8-0 run capped off with back-to-back blocks by Washington and Frantti to widen the lead to 12, 18-6.
Rebounding, Illinois battled back with a 9-2 streak to shave the lead back to four, 21-15, forcing Penn State to call a timeout. Holding on to the advantage, Penn State came out of the break with a 4-1 run to lock up a 25-16 win in the second set, tying the match, 1-1.
Unable to carry the momentum into the fourth frame, the Illini shot out to a 9-5 lead after the intermission. Hancock answered with back-to-back kills to bring Penn State within two, 9-7, but the Illini followed with a 6-3 stretch to maintain the advantage, 15-10. Washington fired a kill sparking a 5-2 run finished off with two consecutive kills from Grant, cutting the lead back down to two, 17-15.
The Illini refused to back down, responding with a 5-3 stretch to keep ahold of a slim, three-point lead, 22-19. The A kill from Washington and solo stuff by Courtney pulled the Nittany Lions within one, 22-21, but two Illini kills in between one from Grant lifted Illinois to set point, 24-22. Courtney held off the attempt with a kill, but Illinois put down one more kill to take set three, 25-23 for a 2-1 lead in the match.
Trailing by as many as seven in set four, 10-3, Penn State used a 2-1 strike to narrow the deficit to six, 11-5. Illinois responded with a 6-2 streak to move back up by seven, 17-10. PSU looked to get back on track with another 3-2 stretch, 19-13, but the Illini answered with a 4-1 run to make it 23-14.
Rallying, Frantti opened a 6-0 run that brought the Nittany Lions within four, 23-19. Unable to sustain the momentum, Illinois put down a kill for match point, 24-19. PSU rallied once more with three consecutive kills to arrive within two, 24-22, but Illinois closed out the game with a block to take set four, 25-22 and the match, 3-1.
"The worst part is we had fire at the end of the game," Washington said. "It's the worst feeling when you're so close and you're thinking that it's good, but then it's too little, too late," Washington added. "It [the loss] gives us another chance to work harder in practice though. We don't really linger. Our team, my team, doesn't really do the linger thing. We're ready to come back and work harder."
Penn State returns to action next weekend, hitting the road for another pair of Big Ten conference matchups. PSU travels to Purdue Friday, Oct. 17 for an 8 p.m. match before heading to Indiana Saturday, Oct. 18 to square off against the Hoosiers at 8 p.m. Friday's game will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.