Oct. 29, 2014
By Anita Nham, GoPSUSports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - On the heels of two weekend victories, the Nittany Lion women's volleyball team marched to an assertive three-set sweep (25-15, 25-22, 25-12) against No. 17 Ohio State on Tuesday evening inside Rec Hall.
"I thought it was a well-played match for us to block as well as we did and everything we did was good tonight," said head coach Russ Rose. "It was a nice thing to have happen at home. It's great to have a nice crowd and the band out on a Tuesday night."
The Nittany Lions came strong out of the gate by earning the first point and maintaining a big lead throughout the initial set. The Lions were on a three-point streak with a score of 18-10 when Ohio State called a time out. The Buckeyes notched a point out of the break, but Penn State pushed ahead and won the set 25-15 with a service ace from senior Nia Grant.
"I thought we came out and played a great first game," said coach Rose. "We hit .650. We didn't have any hitting errors and I think that kind of set the tempo for the match."
Though Penn State had a dominant first set, the team was unable to gain a lead on Ohio State for much of the second set. The Buckeyes had a 7-2 lead and never trailed until the Lions notched a 22-21 lead on an Ohio State service error. The Nittany Lions battled through the adversity in the second set en route to a 25-22 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
"A lot of times, you're fighting yourself because we contributed to them getting a number of those early points, but when we were down 7-2, I wasn't too concerned other than how they got to seven," said coach Rose. "I thought we were going to score more than two points."
Penn State didn't want to fall behind Ohio State in the third set, so the Lions continued their drive from the previous set. They opened the set with a strong score of 6-2. Ohio State attempted to interrupt the streak, but the Nittany Lions continued their power and finished the third set 25-12 to complete the sweep.
"I think the biggest thing we're trying to focus on is coming out of the game strong and sustaining it," said senior Micha Hancock. "It's nice to have three 3-0 wins in a row. You feel like you're getting tighter with the group and we're getting to a more consistent level, so I really feel like we need to show more energy and I think we've been showing that with our 3-0 wins."
Hancock recorded 31 assists to earn a total of 5,010 all-time assists. She's the sixth player at Penn State to reach 5,000 or more career assists. Hancock also logged a season-high of seven blocks.
"I thought we had great performances tonight from all the hitters," said coach Rose. "We pass the ball well. I thought Micha did a nice job...Micha was good with distributing the ball tonight."
Senior Lacey Fuller also played a key role in the victory, finishing with five digs.
"[Lacey] played hard. Had a couple of good digs," said coach Rose.
With her performance, Fuller had a great time tonight.
"I felt fabulous," said Fuller. "It was amazing. The crowd was great. It was a really good game."
The team will continue to practice for their matchup with the Buckeyes once again on Friday evening, but this time, they have a better idea of what they will be up against.
"It's nice [to play a team] because it's one thing to watch film on a team, but getting to play them, you get more of a feel," said Fuller. "At least for defensive players, you know exactly where they hit the ball and hopefully going into Friday, I'll be more prepared since we just played them."
Even with a sweep, Coach Rose was pleased to earn a victory against a talented Ohio State team.
"They're ranked 17th in the country and they've beaten teams in the top 10 in the country. They're really good. They just didn't have their best outing tonight and we know that and we'll work hard [today] and Thursday and we'll have a tough match on Friday," said Rose.
Penn State will take on the Buckeyes again this Friday at 7 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.