| #1 Penn State vs. #21 Minnesota | | | | 12-0 (1-0 Big Ten) | 9-2 (1-0 Big Ten) |
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Sept. 25, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball (12-0, 1-0) is set to close out the first week of Big Ten conference play with a match against No. 21 Minnesota (9-2, 1-0) Saturday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. ET in Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions are fresh off of a straight set victory (25-21-25-16, 25-20) against No. 16 Wisconsin in the Big Ten opener Wednesday, Sept. 23. Four Nittany Lions powered the Penn State offense in the win, led by a match-high 14 kills from sophomore Ali Frantti.
PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Penn State women's volleyball will honor the Penn State ability athletics program, as well as pay tribute to the toughness and courage shown by Nittany Lion soccer standout Brett Gravatt, who is now part of the Ability Athletics program and training for the 2020 paralympics in Tokyo. In addition to honoring Gravatt at the intermission, the Nittany Lions will also host a seated volleyball match at the conclusion of the women's volleyball match featuring the PSU men's volleyball team and members of the Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors branch in State College.
QUICK SETS
* In addition to Frantti's match-high 14 kills against the Badgers, sophomore Haleigh Washington finished second on the team with 11 kills. Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney and senior Megan Courtney rounded out the group of double digit hitters with 10 kills apiece. Courtney also added a match-high 14 digs against the Badgers for her fourth double-double performance of the season.
* The win against Wisconsin extends the Nittany Lion stretch of consecutive wins to 32 straight matches, dating back to the first win in the streak against Purdue on the road Oct. 17, 2014.
* Penn State has earned all 12 of its victories this year by way of a 3-0 sweep. In addition to this year's streak, the Nittany Lions have not dropped a set since surrendering the second set of the 2014 NCAA national semifinal match against Stanford, Dec. 18, 2014, winning its last 41 straight sets.
* The Nittany Lion victory against the Badgers moved PSU to 3-0 this year against teams ranked within the Top 25 of the AVCA Coaches' Poll. The match against Minnesota marks Penn State's second consecutive outing against a ranked team, with a matchup against No. 4 Nebraska on deck for next Friday, Oct. 2.
* Averaging 3.33 blocks per set on the year, Penn State has commanded a 120.0 - 44.0 advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents in 2015. The average ranks first nationally and leads the Big Ten. Individually, sophomore Haleigh Washington's 1.58 blocks per set ranks sixth nationally and also leads the Big Ten.
* Penn State's .339 hitting clip ranks second in the NCAA national standings and leads the Big Ten. Helped out by Haleigh Washington's team-high .560 hitting clip, her efficiency leads both the nation and the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have limited their opponents to just a .099 hitting efficiency, which is third nationally.
* Penn State has won its last nine consecutive matches against Minnesota. Most recently, the Nittany Lions captured a 3-0 win against the Gophers at home Nov. 15, 2014. PSU owns a 44-8 advantage in the all-time series against Minnesota, including a 23-3 mark in matches played at Rec Hall.
* In the win against St. John's last week, Haleigh Washington led a group of five multi-block performers with a career-high 11 total blocks. Her tally is the second highest single-match total in a 3-set match in Penn State program history.
* Senior Kendall Pierce has been selected as a candidate for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. Pierce is one of 30 women's volleyball student-athletes to be named a candidate, along with one other from the Big Ten conference. The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
* PSU was voted No. 1 overall for the fifth consecutive week in the latest AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. Penn State received all 64 first place votes to earn a unanimous selection for the second straight week.
* Including Penn State, more than half of the Big Ten teams in the conference are featured in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll, including a season-high eight in the top 25 for the second week in a row.
BEST BLOCK AROUND
Penn State's commanded the advantage in the blocking margin against its opponents this year. To date, Penn State has out-blocked its opponents 120.0 - 44.0, averaging 3.33 blocks per set, which ranks first nationally and leads the conference. Individually, sophomore Haleigh Washington's 1.58 blocks per set ranks sixth nationally and also leads the Big Ten. Sophomore Heidi Thelen's 1.28 blocks per set ranks within the top 50 nationally, at No. 49, while also coming in at fifth in the league.
TOUGH DEFENSE
Penn State has limited its opponents to .099 hitting this season, which ranks second in the Big Ten standings and first nationally. PSU has held nine of its 12 opponents to .097 or lower hitting efficiency. The Nittany Lions have limited two squads to hitting clips between .210-.267. Only one team (Stanford/.267 has posted a .250 or better hitting percentage. At the Golden Dome Invitational, Penn State held back-to-back teams to negative team hitting clips. Eastern Kentucky hit -.012, while Mississippi State hit -.010.
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
Penn State has earned all 12 of its victories this season by way of a 3-0 sweep. The Nittany Lions have now won their last 41 consecutive individual sets, since dropping the second set of the 2014 NCAA national final match to top-ranked Stanford. Penn State has limited Eastern Kentucky, Mississippi State and St. John's to less than 45 total points in a single match, as the Colonels totaled 41. The Red Storm had 43 and Bulldogs had just 42.
AN ARRAY OF OFFENSIVE OPTIONS
Redshirt freshman setter Bryanna Weiskircher has directed the Nittany Lions to a .339 hitting percentage, which ranks second nationally and first in the Big Ten. Weiskircher has also paced a trio of her top attackers to .302 or better hitting, led by sophomore Haleigh Washington's .560 hitting clip, which leads both the nation and the conference. Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney's .354 hitting percentage is second on the team while senior Megan Courtney's .312 clip is third.
NOTABLE MATCHES FROM THE SERIES AGAINST MINNESOTA
PSU 3, MIN 0 - University Park, Pa. - Rec Hall
Nov. 15, 2014 - (25-20, 25-12, 25-23)
Then-No. 6 Penn State pushed past Minnesota in straight sets in front of a season-high crowd of 5,569 fans at Rec Hall. Aiyana Whitney led the offense with a team-high 17 kills on .682 hitting, while Haleigh Washington finished second with nine kills and a team-high six blocks.
After winning the first two sets, PSU was 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. 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.
PSU 3, MIN 1 - Minneapolis - Sports Pavilion
Sept. 27, 2014 - (27-29, 25-13, 25-15, 25-22)
Rallying back from an early deficit, then-No. 3 Penn State battled to a 3-1 win on the road at No. 17 Minnesota. Penn State out-blocked the Gophers 15.5-9.0, helped out by multi-block performances from five Nittany Lions.
Trailing by one heading into the second set, Penn State used a late surge to capture 25-13 win in the second set to even the match. PSU also cruised to a 25-15 win in the third set to take over a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set. Penn State and Minnesota battled back and forth in the fourth set, keeping it close. Trailing, 21-19, PSU answered with the four straight points to reclaim the lead, capped off by an ace from Micha Hancock to make it 23-21. A PSU service error out of a UM timeout put the Gophers within one, 23-22, but a kill from Courtney and a block by Simone Lee and Whitney sealed a 25-22 win for the victory.
HOLCOMB HAS CAREER-HIGH WEEKEND
Freshman libero Keeton Holcomb had a career-high weekend at the Golden Dome Invitational. Holcomb averaged 5.33 digs per set during the weekend that featured three consecutive 3-0 wins. She highlighted the weekend with back-to-back 20-dig performances in the same day against both Mississippi State and Notre Dame. On the year, Holcomb's leading the team with 3.74 digs per set, which ranks 11th in the Big Ten standings.
RECORD BOOK WATCH: MILESTONE FOR MEGAN
Penn State senior Megan Courtney is nearing the 1,000 career kills/1,000 career digs plateau. With 944 career kills and 934 kills, she needs just 46 more kills and 52 more digs to reach the mark. Courtney would join an elite group, as just the eighth Nittany Lion in program to reach the milestone and the first since Deja McClendon in 2013.
WEEK 5: AVCA TOP 25 COACHES' POLL UPDATE
Penn State remained atop the AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the fifth consecutive week. Penn State earned all 64 first place votes, as a unanimous No. 1 selection for the second straight week. Including PSU, this week's poll features more than half of the Big Ten conference teams with a season-high eight teams in the top 25.
WASHINGTON EARNS BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Following a 3-0 weekend on the road at the USF Invitational, sophomore Haleigh Washington earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors. The award is Washington's second Big Ten Player of the Week award this season, as well as her fifth-career Big Ten Weekly honor. Washington led the team with a .735 hitting percentage in an undefeated weekend on the road that featured wins against Auburn, St. John's and South Florida. Finishing second on the team with 27 kills, she highlighted the weekend with a pair of double figure kill performances. She also led the blocking unit with 1.56 blocks per week.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn State remains home next week, welcoming Nebraska and Iowa to the court in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions take on the Huskers Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m., before squaring off against the Hawkeyes Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. on Dig Pink night.
