Oct. 4, 2014
Final Stats (PDF) I Final Stats (HTML)
IOWA CITY, Iowa - No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball (15-2, 3-1) concluded a four-match Big Ten road swing with a straight set victory (25-15, 25-14, 25-11) at Iowa (8-7, 0-4) Saturday evening at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
A trio of Nittany Lions powered the offense with double-digit kills. Senior Nia Grant and junior Megan Courtney tallied 11 each, while freshman Ali Frantti recorded 10. Courtney matched a career-high mark with two aces, while also posting four digs to go along with a.611 hitting percentage.
Defensively, senior Dominique Gonzalez led the way with eight digs. Grant added four digs, while Frantti finished second on the squad with six digs.
Senior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .360 team hitting percentage, dishing out 33 assists to go along with four aces and five digs. She also notched five kills on eight errorless swings, finishing with .625 hitting clip.
Penn State opened the match on an 8-1 run capped off by two consecutive aces from Hancock to take control of an early advantage. The Hawkeyes looked to regroup with a kill, 8-2, but Penn State followed with a 5-1 stretch to push the lead into double digits, 13-3. Iowa cut off the streak with a kill, but PSU maintained the double-digit edge, 17-7, helped out by a 4-3 stretch featuring a kill from Courtney and an ace from Frantti.
The Hawkeyes looked to find momentum, firing back-to-back kills to open a 5-1 run that trimmed the lead back to six, 18-12. Penn State responded with three consecutive kills from Courtney and Grant to bolster the lead to nine, 21-12, forcing Iowa to call a timeout. Two Hawkeye errors out of the break pushed Penn State ahead, 23-13, before Iowa put down a kill to make it 23-15. Washington and Whitney paired up for two consecutive kills to secure a 25-15 win in the first set.
The Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes traded points early in set two, 4-3, before Penn State broke away from a one-point lead with five unanswered points featuring a pair of aces from both Hancock and Courtney to move ahead, 9-3. The two teams exchanged service errors, 10-4, before PSU put together a 7-3 run to surge back into double digits, leading 17-7.
A Nittany Lion attack error slowed the rhythm,17-8, but Grant, Courtney and Washington all chipped in kills to keep Penn State up by 10, 20-10. Two PSU errors shaved the lead back to eight, 20-12, but an Iowa service error and three consecutive kills from Frantti and Courtney brought the Nittany Lions to set point, 24-12. The Hawkeyes held off two attempts before Frantti slammed home a kill to seal a 25-14 win in the second set.
Penn State jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set three for an early advantage after the intermission. A PSU attack error and a kill from Iowa lifted the Hawkeyes within three, 6-3, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 4-1 strike to remain on top, 11-3.
Three Penn State errors pulled Iowa within five, 11-6, but PSU regrouped with a 5-2 run to double the lead, 16-8, forcing Iowa to call a timeout. The Hawkeyes came out of the break with a 3-1 spurt to cut the lead back to eight, 18-10, but Frantti followed with a kill to keep the Nittany Lions on top by nine, 19-10. The two teams traded service errors once more before Penn State settled into a 5-0 run to lock up a 25-11 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Next up, the Nittany Lions return home from the four-match road swing. Penn State welcomes Northwestern for a midweek matchup Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. before hosting Illinois Saturday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. in Rec Hall. PSU's matchup against the Wildcats will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network. Fans can also catch a live stream of Saturday's match against the Illini on Penn State All-Access with a paid subscription.