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Sept. 19, 2015
TAMPA, Fla. -- Top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball (10-0) swept past St. John's (6-3) Saturday afternoon at the Sun Dome in three sets (25-10, 25-18, 25-19), helped out by another strong blocking performance by the Nittany Lions.
As a team, Penn State posted a season-high 15.0 blocks, led by multi-block performances from five different Nittany Lions. Sophomore Haleigh Washington led the group with a career-high 11 total blocks. Washington's tally is the second highest single-match total in a three-set match in Penn State program history.
Senior Megan Courtney led the team with 10 digs, while also finishing second on the team with five blocks. Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney fueled the offense with a team-high 11 kills on .500 hitting, while also finishing tied for third on the team with four total blocks.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher directed the team to a .377 hitting percentage, dishing out 31 assists to go along with four blocks , four kills and two aces.
Penn State also tied a team-high mark with seven aces in the win against the Red Storm. Freshman Wilma Rivera and senior Kendall Pierce chipped in two aces apiece, marking a career-best for the two.
Leading by just two early in the match, 4-2, St. John's put down a kill to move within one, 4-3. Washington quickly put away two consecutive kills to bring the Nittany Lions on top by three, 6-3. A service ace held up the rhythm, 7-3, but Weiskircher and Washington teamed up for a block to make it 8-3, causing the Red Storm to call a timeout.
Rivera came out of the break with an ace to open up a 6-3 stretch, featuring a kill and an ace from Weiskircher to go up 14-6, causing St. John's to use its final timeout. Two aces from Weiskircher and an STJ error sent Penn State surging ahead by as many as 10, 16-10.
The Red Storm looked to get back on track with a kill, 16-7, but a kill from Frantti and an ace from Pierce sparked an 8-2 run that lifted the Nittany Lions to set point, 24-10. Weiskircher and Washington closed out a 25-10 win in the first set with a block to put PSU up 1-0 in the match.
Penn State and St. John's opened the second set trading points to keep it close. Leading by one, 6-5, Courtney and Washington posted up for a block to open a 4-0 strike that pulled PSU ahead by four, 10-6, prompting St. John's to call a timeout.
A pair of Penn State errors out of the break brought the Red Storm within two, 10-8, but two STJ errors and a kill from Whitney stretched the Nittany Lion advantage to five, 13-8. St. John's came battling back with a 3-1 strike to trim the deficit to three, 14-11. Penn State regrouped with a 5-1 run capped off by back-to-back blocks to move ahead by six, 19-12, causing the Red Storm to call a timeout.
St. John's came out of the break with a kill, 19-13, but a block from Courtney and Washington sparked a 5-3 stretch that lifted the Nittany Lions to set point, 24-16. The Red Storm held off two attempts before a kill from Whitney secured a 25-18 win in the second set.
Penn State and St. John's battled back-and-forth early in the third set to keep the score close. With the set knotted, 7-7, a kill from Courtney and an ace from Washington pulled PSU ahead by two, 9-7. The Red Storm answered back with a kill to cut the lead to one, 9-8, but sophomore Heidi Thelen put down a kill to keep Penn State ahead, 10-8.
The Red Storm continued to pressure Penn State, using a 3-2 burst to shave the PSU advantage to one, 12-11. A St. John's service error followed by two consecutive kills from Whitney and Courtney put Penn State back in control, 15-11, causing the Red Storm to call a timeout.
St. John's came out of the break with two unanswered kills to move back within two, 15-13. Penn State responded with back-to-back kills from Whitney and Weiskircher to open up a 5-3 stretch that widened the PSU advantage to four, 20-16. The Red Storm called a timeout and regrouped with a 3-1 spurt out of the break to move within two, 21-19.
Penn State called a timeout to regroup and came out of the break with four unanswered points, featuring three kills from Frantti to lock up a 25-19 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
The Nittany Lions return to action at 7 p.m. in the Sun Dome, capping off the USF Invitational with a match against tournament host USF.