Oct. 18, 2014
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| University Gym | Bloomington, Ind. | |
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - No. 7 Penn State women's volleyball (18-3, 6-2) earned its 15th straight set victory of the season with a 3-0 win (25-11, 25-19, 25-15) on the road at Indiana (12-8, 3-5) Saturday evening at University Gym.
Six Nittany Lions recorded five or more kills in the victory, led by junior Megan Courtney, who posted a team-high nine kills on .500 hitting, adding four digs and three blocks.
Senior Nia Grant and freshman Haleigh Washington finished close behind with eight kills apiece, hitting at least .700 or better. Grant also anchored the blocking unit with five blocks, while Washington finished tied for second with three.
Senior Micha Hancock directed the offense to a .500 hitting percentage, dishing out 32 assists to go along with four aces, five digs and five kills. Out-hitting the Hoosiers, .500-.208, the Nittany Lion hitting efficiency marks the best clip PSU has posted against a Big Ten opponent this year.
Defensively, nine different Nittany Lions chipped in at least one dig in the win, led by Hancock, who tallied five. Courtney and senior Dominique Gonzalez finished tied for second on the team with four each.
Penn State shot out to a 6-2 lead in set one led by two kills and three blocks from Grant. Indiana cut off the streak with two kills in between one from Courtney to trim the gap to three, 7-4. Washington sparked a 7-3 scoring stretch that doubled the Nittany Lion advantage, 14-7, forcing the Hoosiers to call a timeout.
The two teams traded service errors out of the break, 15-8, before Penn State opened up on a 4-1 streak to push the lead into double-digits, 19-9, causing IU to use its final timeout of the frame. Indiana came out of the break with a kill, but Penn State answered with a 5-0 run featuring two kills from Washington to arrive at set point, 24-10. A PSU service error held off the attempt, but Courtney quickly put down a kill to secure set one, 25-11.
Trailing by two in set two, 8-6, following some early back and forth action, Hancock and Frantti put down two consecutive kills to construct a 4-1 run that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead, 10-9. Penn State and Indiana continued to trade points until Washington pounded back-to-back kills to break open a 12-all tie, pushing PSU ahead, 14-12.
The Hoosiers halted the momentum with a kill to remain within one, 14-13, but a quick 3-0 PSU strike put the Nittany Lions up by as many as four, 17-13. Regrouping, IU rallied with the next five consecutive points to take over a slim one-point lead, 18-18. Penn State rebounded with a 7-0 run capped by back-to-back blocks to reclaim the lead, 24-18. Indiana looked to hold off the set point attempt with a kill, 24-19, but a service error handed Penn State a 25-19 win in set two for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Tied at 3-3 in the third set, Penn State pulled ahead by as many as five, 9-4, helped out by a 6-1 streak that forced the Hoosiers to call a timeout. PSU and IU exchanged a pair of kills, 11-6, to keep it close, before two consecutive Nittany Lion blocks pushed Penn State ahead by seven, 13-6.
Following an attack error, the Hoosiers looked to get back on track with a kill and a PSU error, 14-8, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 5-2 stretch to remain in control, 19-11. Indiana looked to mount a comeback with a 3-1 spurt, 20-14, but a kill from Washington and three consecutive Hoosier attack errors made it match point, 24-14. IU thwarted the attempt with a kill, 24-14, but Frantti put down the final kill to lock up a 25-15 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Next up, Penn State returns home from the road for another set of Big Ten conference contests. The Nittany Lions welcome Michigan Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m., before hosting Michigan State Saturday, Oct. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in Rec Hall. Friday's matchup will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State also hosts its annual "Dig Pink" match to support breast cancer awareness when it welcomes the Wolverines to the court in Rec Hall. In addition to a special ceremony honoring breast cancer survivors during the intermission, PSU will have limited edition pink t-shirts for sale with a portion of the proceeds going toward the Nittany Lion's Side-Out Foundation profile. Fans can make contributions directly to the PSU profile here, http://bit.ly/1vngCDn.