No. 5 Women's Volleyball Pushes Past UCLA in ThreeNo. 5 Women's Volleyball Pushes Past UCLA in Three

No. 5 Women's Volleyball Pushes Past UCLA in Three


1st2nd3rdFinal
#5 Penn State
2825253
#12 UCLA
2616190
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)
2014 NCAA Regional Central
Penn State Statistical Leaders
• Kills: A. Whitney - 13 - .571 (13-1-21)
• Blocks: H. Washington - 5
• Digs: D. Gonzalez - 9
• Aces: M. Hancock - 3
Stat ComparisonPSUUCLA
Kills5049
Hitting Pct..370.254
Assists
4649
Aces41
Digs3542
Blocks
8.54.0
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Dec. 12, 2014

LOUISVILLE, KY. - Behind a duo of double-digit hitters, No. 5 Penn State women's volleyball (33-3) pushed past No. 12 UCLA (22-12) in straight sets (28-26, 25-16, 25-19) Friday evening at the KFC Yum! Center to advance to the NCAA regional finals.

Penn State is set two meet No. 4 Wisconsin in the round of eight Saturday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. ET in Louisville. The matchup will broadcast live on ESPNU.

The win also marks the 17th consecutive victory for the Nittany Lions, as PSU has also earned its last 16 straight by way of a 3-0 decision, claiming the last 50 sets.

Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney led the offense with 13 kills on .571 hitting, adding three digs and three blocks. Freshman Haleigh Washington posted double-digits with 12 kills on .526 hitting, while also leading the blocking unit with five total blocks.

Senior Nia Grant and freshman Ali Frantti added eight kills apiece, while junior Megan Courtney tallied six. Courtney also finished second on the squad with eight digs and four blocks. Senior Dominique Gonzalez led the defensive effort with nine digs, while senior Lacey Fuller followed close behind with seven digs.

Senior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .370 hitting clip, dishing out 41 assists to go along with five digs and three aces.

Penn State shot out to a 5-2 lead for an early advantage in set one. The Bruins used a 3-1 strike to trim the lead back to two, 6-4, but PSU responded with a 5-3 stretch to go back up by four, 11-7. UCLA came storming back with four unanswered points to knot the frame, 11-11. Keeping it tight, the two teams tied the score four more times before the Bruins pulled away from a 16-all tie with back-to-back kills to put UCLA on top, 18-16.

Washington powered a 4-1 run with four kills that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by one, 20-19. PSU and UCLA continued to trade points until a kill from Courtney pushed Penn State to set point, 24-22. The Bruins held off two attempts with a pair of kills to tie the stanza, 24-24. The two teams exchanged points just twice more, 26-26, before Washington and Grant put down two kills to lock up set one, 28-26.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in set two before the Bruins put an end to the run with two consecutive kills to move within two, 5-3. Penn State answered with a 5-2 strike to double the lead, 10-5. UCLA looked to cut off the momentum with a kill, 10-6, but Penn State used an 8-4 stretch to bolster the lead to as many as eight, 18-10, forcing UCLA to call a timeout.

The Bruins made one final attempt to mount a comeback after a kill from Whitney out of the break, 19-11, but PSU maintained the lead, closing out the frame on a 6-5 streak to secure set two, 25-16 for a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.

Penn State and UCLA came out of the intermission battling point-for-point in the early portion of the third set. Trailing by one, 9-8, Frantti and Washington sparked a 4-0 run with three consecutive kills to bring the Nittany Lions on top, 12-9. The Bruins slowed the rhythm with a kill, 12-10, but Hancock opened a 3-1 strike with a kill and an ace to extend the lead to four, 15-11, at the media timeout.

The Nittany Lions came out of the break with a 4-2 stretch capped off by a block from Whitney and Washington and a kill from Frantti to make it 19-13, causing the Bruins to use another timeout. UCLA came out of the break with two consecutive kills to shave the lead back to four, 19-15, but PSU powered to a 25-19 win in the third set to complete the sweep, thanks to a 6-4 stretch.