Nov. 15, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 6 Penn State women's volleyball (26-3, 14-2) pushed past Minnesota (16-11, 6-10) in straight sets (25-20, 25-12, 25-23) Saturday evening in front of a season-high crowd of 5,569 fans at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lion victory extends the current winning streak to 10 consecutive matches, which dates back to Oct. 17. Additionally, Penn State has earned its last nine straight victories by way of a three-set decision, winning the last 29 consecutive sets.
Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney led the offense with a team-high 17 kills on .682 hitting, while freshman Haleigh Washington finished second with nine kills and a team-high six blocks. Senior Nia Grant closed out the evening ranked third on the team eight kills on .462 hitting.
Senior Dominique Gonzalez continued her solid play from the backrow, tallying a team-high 14 digs.
Senior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .315 hitting clip as the Nittany Lions limited the Gophers to a .080 team hitting efficiency.
In addition to 31 assists, Hancock added seven digs, four kills, four aces and three blocks. With four aces, Hancock improved her single season aces mark to 91 aces, which ties the all-time single season record that she previously set in 2011.
Trailing by two early in set one, 5-3, Whitney sparked a 3-1 with a kill that tied the frame, 6-all. Rebounding, Minnesota followed with four unanswered points to go up by four, 10-6, forcing Penn State to call a timeout.
The Nittany Lions came out of the break with a 4-1 strike to arrive within one, 11-10, but the Gophers used a 3-2 stretch to remain on top, 14-12. Rallying, Penn State put together a 7-1 streak to build a four-point lead, 19-15. Minnesota managed to narrow the margin to two, 19-17, before Penn State followed with a 4-2 strike to pull ahead 23-19.
A PSU service error halted the momentum, but Whitney fired back with two consecutive kills to secure a 25-20 win in the opening set.
Penn State shot out to a 5-2 lead for an early advantage in the second set. Minnesota cut off the streak with a kill, 5-3, but the Nittany Lions answered back with a 4-1 run to widen the margin to five, 9-4, prompting the Gophers to call a timeout.
A PSU attack error interrupted the rhythm, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 6-2 streak to bolster the advantage to eight, 15-7. Minnesota pounded a kill and a block in between a kill from PSU to make it 16-9, but Nittany Lions continued to surge, tallying four consecutive points to push the lead to double digits, 20-9.
The Gophers looked to get back on track with a quick 3-2 buts, but kills from freshman Ali Frantti and Grant and a block by Hancock and Grant locked up a 25-12 win in the second set.
Behind by as many as six, 13-7, in set three, Penn State fought back with a 7-1 run to tie the score, 14-14. Whitney led the way with three kills during the scoring streak. Minnesota answered with a 3-1 strike to maintain a two-point edge, 16-14. Keeping it tight, Penn State responded with a 7-2 streak to take over a slim two-point lead, 21-19.
Minnesota battled back with four consecutive points to charge back on top, 23-21. Regrouping, Washington sparked a 4-0 run that carried the Nittany Lions to a 25-23 victory in the third set to complete the sweep.
Penn State hits the road next week for another pair of Big Ten conference matches. The Nittany Lions travel to Michigan for a midweek matchup against the Wolverines Wednesday, Nov. 19 before heading to Maryland to take on the Terps Saturday, Nov. 22.