Sept. 7, 2015
By Anita Nham, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State women's volleyball team took on ranked opponents for the first time this season in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge over the weekend, where the Nittany Lions defeated both No. 21 Colorado and No. 2 Stanford in three straight sets, respectively.
The strongest player from the two matches? The fans that were in attendance at Rec Hall. Most notably, the sold-out crowd of 6,055 supporters on Saturday evening as Penn State battled against Stanford.
"I think the key to the match was just the energy in the building," said head coach Russ Rose. "It was an electric evening...It was a great match against a really good team. Stanford is really good. I thought we had a really good game plan, but the hero of the game is the 6,000 people that came out and made the building electric. That's the story. We're the recipient."
Stanford jumped out to a four-point lead early in the first set, but the Lions quickly rebounded and regained momentum due to the fans' encouragement.
"[The crowd] is incredible," said senior Megan Courtney. "You make an error and the next play is a great play, and the crowd is right on cheering with you again. It's great to know that no matter win or lose a point, they're always going to have your back, and they always make sure that they're known to the other team, They were incredible tonight. That's the biggest crowd that I've played at here in Penn State, and it couldn't have come at a better time."
Aside from the fans, Courtney's efforts help lead Penn State to both victories over the weekend. Courtney led the team Friday and Saturday night in kills. She recorded 12 digs against Colorado and tallied her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs against Stanford. She also rounded out her offensive success with two aces on Saturday evening.
"Megan hit .400 and leads in matches and digs [against Stanford]," said coach Rose. "It's a really good night for a captain to go out and play like that with some young kids."
Sophomore Ali Frantti, redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney and sophomore Haleigh Washington recorded double figure kills against Stanford, as well. Frantti and Whitney notched 13 kills apiece, while Washington followed behind with 12 kills.
"A lot of people really stepped up and did some great things. We had four people step up," said coach Rose. "Stanford had two people in double-digit kills, and we had four. It certainly gives you a better chance when you can spread the ball out, but Stanford power-played great."
Freshman setter Bryanna Weiskircher made a valuable impact on the offense, too. She had 18 assists and two aces against Colorado.
"I thought Bryanna really stepped up," said Washington. "I think she's beginning to step up and take a role as a setter and leader on the court, which is really good. Her and I are figuring out connections more, which makes it easier to run plays, so in practice, we'll work on that, and timing, tempo and transition."
Weiskircher also recorded a career-high of 41 assists against Stanford. She couldn't have done it without her teammates or the crowd.
"It's really great to have that kind of support behind me, so I'm not worried about 'Oh, I have to get this perfect set to the same person every single time,'" said Weiskircher. "I know I can distribute to whichever direction that I want to and I trust them to put a kill on whatever I put up, or keep it in play and make my sets even better. [The crowd] is just a great support system, even coming in as a redshirt freshman setter, who's never played in front of a big crowd like that. It's just electrifying and amazing."
Though Penn State is still ranked No.1 in the nation, that is no indication of the rest of the season to come.
"We go on the road next week. It's always tougher on the road. Obviously, Stanford experienced that…They saw a great venue and a great night for volleyball…Players will remember it. I'm sure there will be some great pictures that they'll look at, but it's not going to win any other matches for the rest of the year," said Rose.