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Sept. 23, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Top-ranked Penn State (11-0, 1-0) opened the 2015 Big Ten conference slate with a straight set (25-21, 25-16, 25-20) victory against No. 16 Wisconsin (8-3, 0-1) Wednesday evening at Rec Hall.
Four different Nittany Lions powered the Penn State offense with double figure kills. Sophomore Ali Frantti led the way with 14 kills, adding six digs and two blocks. Sophomore Haleigh Washington finished second with 11 kills on 14 perfect swings, while also leading the team with two aces and five total blocks.
Senior Megan Courtney and redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney rounded out the group with 10 kills each. Courtney added a team-high 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher paced the team to a .376 hitting percentage, dishing out a career-high 43 assists to go along with five digs.
Penn State and Wisconsin traded points early in the match to keep the score tied up. With the score knotted at 9-9, the Badgers used a 3-0 strike to pull ahead by three, 12-9. A pair of Wisconsin errors pushed the Nittany Lions within one, 12-11, but a Nittany Lion attack error kept the Badgers ahead, 13-12. Wisconsin answered with a kill, 14-12, but Frantti and Whitney put down two consecutive kills to re-tie the score, 14-14.Wisconsin responded with a kill to bring the Badgers ahead by one, 15-14, heading into the media timeout.
Penn State came out of the break firing, as Whitney sparked a 4-0 run capped off by a block from Courtney and Washington to move PSU ahead, 18-15. The Badgers called a timeout, but Courtney came out of the break with a kill to widen the Nittany Lion advantage, 19-16, prompting Wisconsin to use its final timeout of the frame.
The Badgers came out of the huddle with a 3-1 spurt to trim the gap to two, 20-18. Washington halted the run with a kill, before pairing up with Weiskircher for a block to bring PSU ahead by four, 22-18. The Badgers came storming back with another 3-1 strike to move back within two, 23-21, causing Penn State to call a timeout. The Nittany Lions came out of the break with kills from Frantti and Whitney to secure a 25-21 win in the opening set.
The Nittany Lions shot out to a 6-2 lead in the second set, featuring two kills from Courtney and a block by Washington and Frantti. Wisconsin called a timeout looking to slow the momentum, but a kill from Frantti and an ace from Washington bolstered the PSU advantage to as many as six, 8-2. A PSU service error slowed the momentum, but Penn State regrouped with a 4-2 stretch to make it 12-4, causing the Badgers to call a timeout.
Wisconsin came out of the break with a kill, 12-5, but Penn State followed with a 7-6 scoring stretch to construct an eight-point lead, 19-11. A Nittany Lion service error trimmed the margin to seven, 19-12, but PSU regrouped with a 5-3 streak to arrive at set point, 24-15. The Badgers made one final attempt to mount a comeback with a kill, 24-16, but a kill from Washington sealed a 25-16 win in favor the Nittany Lions.
Penn State and Wisconsin kept it close early in the third set. Tied up at 10-10, Washington sparked a 4-0 run with back-to-back solo blocks, sending the Nittany Lions ahead by four, 14-10. A Badger kill and a Nittany Lion attack error drew Wisconsin within two, 14-12, but a kill from Washington sent Penn State ahead, 15-12 heading into the media timeout.
Penn State came out of the break with a 5-3 stretch to maintain a five-point advantage, 20-15, prompting the Badgers to call a timeout. A Nittany Lion attack error out of the huddle shaved the lead to four, 20-16, but a kill from Whitney kept PSU ahead by five, 21-16. The Badgers looked to get back on track with a kill, 21-17, but Courtney helped put together a 3-1 strike that lifted PSU to set point, 24-19. Wisconsin held off two attempts, before Frantti put down a kill to finish off a 25-20 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Penn State returns to action later this week, taking on No. 21 Minnesota Saturday, Sept. 26 at home in Rec Hall. First serve between the Nittany Lions and the Golden Gophers is set for 8 p.m. ET.
Penn State has now won its last 32 consecutive matches, dating back to its first win in the streak Oct. 17, 2014.