Oct. 25, 2014
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| Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. | |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 7 Penn State women's volleyball (20-13, 8-2) recorded its 17th straight set victory of the season with a 3-0 win (26-24, 25-17, 25-21) against Michigan State (12-9, 5-5) Saturday evening at Rec Hall. The win against the Spartans marks the 38th year that the Nittany Lions have earned at least 20 wins in a season.
Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney and freshman Ali Frantti led the offense with a pair of double-digit kill performances. Whitney tallied a team-high 12 kills while Frantti followed close behind with 11 on a squad-best .409 hitting percentage.
Senior Micha Hancock led the team from the endline with a match-high four aces, while also dishing out 33 assists to go along with five digs and four kills.
Senior Dominique Gonzalez reached double-digit digs with a match-high 14 digs. Freshman Haleigh Washington rounded out the defensive effort with a team-high three blocks.
Tied up early in set one, 4-4, Whitney sparked a 3-1 strike with a kill to lift the Nittany Lions ahead, 7-5. Unable to settle into an offensive rhythm, Michigan State regrouped with 6-3 stretch to take over a one-point lead, 11-10. A Spartan error and a block from Whitney and Washington pulled Penn State up by one, 12-11. MSU answered back with a 4-1 spurt to reclaim the lead, 15-13.
Penn State continued to battle, rebounding with a 6-3 streak to take back the advantage, 19-18. Unable to shake the Spartans, MSU came fighting back with a 6-3 run to arrive at set point, 24-22, forcing Penn State to call a timeout. Rallying, PSU came out of the break with three unanswered points to move to set point, 25-24. The Spartans looked to halt the momentum, calling a timeout, but Hancock slammed a kill to give the Nittany Lions a 26-24 win in the first set.
Trailing by one in set two, 7-6, Frantti opened a 4-1 run that moved PSU into the lead, 10-8, causing the Spartans to use an early timeout. Both teams struggled to put together a run following the break, trading the lead five times.
Down by one, 15-14, Hancock, Frantti and Washington teamed up for a trio of kills to lift the Nittany Lions ahead by two, 17-15. The Spartans looked to cut off the run with a kill, 17-16, but three straight MSU errors widened the PSU lead to three, 20-16. Michigan State made one final attempt to slow the Penn State offense with a kill, 20-17, but the Nittany Lions finished off the frame with five unanswered point to secure a 20-17 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Penn State and Michigan State opened the third set trading points before PSU cracked open a 4-all tie with a 3-0 stretch featuring a solo stuff and a kill from Frantti to go up by three, 7-4. The Spartans came storming back with a 5-1 streak to pull ahead by one, 10-9.
The two teams traded points, before PSU rallied from behind, 12-11, with a 3-0 strike to build a two-point advantage, 14-12. Penn State continued to maintain a comfortable cushion, 17-14, until the Spartans used a 5-3 streak to narrow the margin to one, 20-19. Courtney halted the momentum with a kill, sparking a 3-1 strike that lifted PSU back up by three, 23-20. The Spartans made one final attempt to mount a comeback with a kill, 23-21, but a solo stuff from Washington and a kill from Frantti locked up a 25-21 win in the set to complete the sweep.
Next up, Penn State meets Big Ten conference opponent, Ohio State twice next week. The Nittany Lions host the Buckeyes Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. before traveling out to Columbus, Ohio Oct. 31. Tuesday's matchup will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.