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Sept. 26, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball (13-0, 2-0) outlasted No. 21 Minnesota (9-3, 1-1) in five sets (25-22, 25-16, 19-25, 20-25, 15-12) Saturday evening at Rec Hall in front of a crowd featuring 5,039 Nittany Lion fans.
Four Nittany Lions fueled the Penn State offense with double figure kills for the second consecutive outing. Senior Megan Courtney led the way with her fifth double-double of the season, posting a match-high 22 kills to go along with 13 digs and five total blocks.
Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney, and sophomores Ali Frantti and Haleigh Washington rounded out the group with 13 kills each. Washington finished tied for first on the team with five total blocks, while Frantti and Whitney added nine and five digs, respectively.
Four Nittany Lions also recorded double digit digs in the win, led by 18 digs from freshman libero Keeton Holcomb. Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher logged 12 digs, while also passing out a career-high 54 assists for her second double-double of the season.
Junior Taylor Krause recorded a career-high performance, coming off the bench in the last four sets of the match to finish with 10 digs.
Penn State and Minnesota kept it close early in the opening frame. With the score tied, 8-8, the Nittany Lions used a 3-0 strike, led by two kills from Whitney to pull ahead, 11-8. The Golden Gophers answered with a block and a kill to move within one, 11-10. Whitney put down a kill to bring Penn State ahead by two, 12-10, but Minnesota followed with back-to-back kills to knot the frame, 12-12. The Nittany Lions and the Golden Gopher continued to trade points, keeping the score tied.
With the frame knotted, 14-14, a kill from Thelen and an ace from Weiskircher lifted the Nittany Lions ahead, 16-14, prompting Minnesota to call a timeout. PSU came out of the break with a 4-2 stretch to move ahead by as many as four, 20-16. A Nittany Lion attack error broke up the rhythm, but two kills from Washington and Courtney in between one from Minnesota kept PSU on top, 22-18.
The Gophers called a timeout and came out of the huddle with two consecutive kills to jump with two, 22-20. The Nittany Lions regrouped with a kill from Frantti and an ace from Washington to make it set point, 24-22. Minnesota held off two attempts before Frantti put away a kill to secure a 25-22 win in the first set.
With the score tied up early in the second set, 3-3, a Minnesota attack error and a kill from Washington sparked a 5-1 PSU scoring streak that sent the Nittany Lions ahead by as many as four, 8-4. The Golden Gophers looked to break up the momentum with a timeout, but Washington came out of the huddle with a kill to open up a 9-5 run that sent Penn State surging ahead by as many as eight, 17-9.
Looking to break up the rhythm, Minnesota called its final timeout of the frame. Penn State came out of the break firing, using a kill and a block to expand the advantage to double figures, 19-9. A Minnesota kill and a PSU attack error trimmed the lead to eight, 19-11. PSU followed with a 4-2 stretch to arrive at set point, 24-13. The Golden Gophers held off three straight attempts before Frantti put down a kill to close out a 25-16 win in the second set.
Tied up at 9-9 in the third set, a kill from Minnesota and a pair of Penn State errors sent the Golden Gophers ahead, 12-9. Penn State looked to get back on track with a kill from Frantti, but another Minnesota kill and a block made it 14-10, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. The Gophers came out of the break with a kill, but a kill from Courtney and a Minnesota attack error cut the deficit to three, 15-12.
The Golden Gophers followed with a 4-2 stretch to widen the margin to five, 19-14, causing PSU to call a timeout. Courtney came out of the break with a kill, 20-15, but the Nittany Lions could not sustain the momentum as the Golden Gophers used a 5-4 strike to take the third set, 25-19. Penn State opened the fourth frame with a 7-5 run capped off by back-to-back solo blocks from Courtney and Washington.
Minnesota answered back with a 4-2 strike to tie the score, 9-9. A Gopher kill and a PSU attack error moved Minnesota ahead by two, 11-9, but Frantti followed with a kill to put Penn State within one, 11-10. Penn State continued to battle, but Minnesota matched the Nittany Lion point-for-point to remain ahead by one, 17-16.
Rallying, a block from Washington and Frantti tied the score, 17-17, causing Minnesota to call a timeout. The Golden Gophers came out of the break with four unanswered points to pull ahead, 21-17. A Minnesota service error and a kill from sophomore Simone Lee made it 22-18, but Penn State could not continue the momentum as Minnesota took set four, 25-20 to send the match into a deciding fifth set.
Penn State opened the fifth frame on 5-3 streak, capped off by back-to-back kills from Washington. The Golden Gophers cut off the run with a block to arrive within one, 5-4. The two teams continued to trade points until a kill from Frantti lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by two, 8-6 at the crossover.
Minnesota quickly answered with a kill to keep within one, 8-7, but PSU responded with a 3-2 spurt finished off by kills from Courtney and Washington to move ahead by as many as three, 12-9, forcing Minnesota to call a timeout. The Gophers regrouped with a kill, but served into the net to keep Penn State on top, 13-10. Minnesota made one final attempt to spark a run with a kill, 13-11, but a kill from Washington made it match point, 14-11. A PSU service error held off the momentum before Frantti put down a kill to secure a 15-12 win in the fifth set.
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.