Oct. 10, 2015
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 3 Penn State (15-2, 4-2) came up short in a five set (18-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 12-15) loss to Northwestern (11-6, 3-3) on the road at Welsh-Ryan Arena Saturday evening.
Three Nittany Lions finished with double figure kills, led by 14 apiece from senior Megan Courtney and sophomore Simone Lee. Courtney added a match-high 23 digs for her fifth consecutive and ninth double-double of the season. Lee added four blocks in addition to her career high kills tally.
Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney finished second on the team with 13 kills, adding five blocks. Sophomore Haleigh Washington had nine kills on .368 hitting, while also leading the team with eight total blocks.
Penn State owned the advantage on the block once again, out-blocking the Wildcats 14.0-8.0, helped out by multi-block performances from six different Nittany Lions.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher dished out 43 assists to go along with 17 digs for her fifth consecutive and sixth double-double of the season. Freshman libero Keeton Holcomb finished third on the team with 15 digs. The Wildcats out-dug the Nittany Lions 75-68, despite double digit digs from Courtney, Weiskircher and Holcomb.
Tied at 8-8 in the first set, Frantti and Courtney put away back-to-back kills to send the Nittany Lions ahead by two, 10-8. Northwestern followed with a 7-2 run to construct a three-point advantage, 15-12, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. The Wildcats came out of the break with a block, 16-12, but a kill from Lee and a block from Washington and Weiskircher narrowed the deficit to two, 16-14.
The Wildcats looked to break up the rhythm with a kill, 17-14, but two kills from Frantti and an NU attack error knotted the frame, 18-18, causing Northwestern to call a timeout. A Penn State service error and a pair of Wildcat kills moved Northwestern ahead, 21-18, forcing Penn State to call its final timeout of the set. The Nittany Lions could not get back on track out of the break as NU used a late 7-0 rally to take set one, 25-18.
Trailing by as many as four, 10-6, Washington cut off a 5-0 Northwestern run with a kill to make it 10-7. Chipping away at the deficit, Penn State put together a 5-3 strike to pull within one, 13-12. With Penn State unable to maintain the momentum, the Wildcats used a 4-1 run to widen the margin to four, 17-13, causing PSU to call a timeout.
A Northwestern service error out of the break sparked a 5-1 PSU streak that put Penn State within one, 19-18, prompting the Wildcats to call a timeout. Penn State came out of the huddle with a block from Whitney and Frantti, but NU continued to match PSU point-for-point to keep the score locked up.
Tied at 20-20, Whitney and Courtney followed a Wildcat point with a pair of kills to put Penn State on top, 23-22. A Northwestern attack error on the on the next point set the Nittany Lions up for set point, 24-22. The Wildcats held off one attempt before an overpass kill from Lee secured a 25-23 win in the second set in favor of the Nittany Lions to tie the match, 1-1.
Trailing by two early in the third set, 3-1, Penn State used a 6-0 run capped off by a kill from Courtney to take over a four-point lead, 7-3. The Wildcats called timeout and came out of the break with a 4-1 streak to arrive within one, 8-7. Washington looked to break up the run with a kill, 9-7, but the Wildcats answered back with a 5-1 run to take over a two-point lead, 12-10.
A Northwestern service error broke up the streak, but the Wildcats tallied three unanswered kills to move ahead 15-11, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. NU came out of the break with a block, but Penn State answered with a pair of kills from Whitney and Courtney to cut the gap to three, 16-13. Penn State continued to rally, using a 4-1 run to tie the frame, 17-17.
Penn State and Northwestern briefly traded points before the Wildcats used 3-1 spurt to break away from an 18-all tie and move ahead 21-19, forcing Penn State to call a timeout. Two NU errors and a solo stuff from Frantti out of the break lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by one, 22-21, prompting the Wildcats to use a timeout. Northwestern came out of the break firing, using a 3-1 strike to arrive at set point, 24-23. Whitney held off the attempt with a kill, 24-24, but two Wildcat kills gave Northwestern a 26-24 win in the third set for a 2-1 advantage in the match.
With the score tied, 8-8, in the fourth set, two kills from Whitney and Lee and a Wildcat attack error put Penn State on top, 11-8. Northwestern looked to regroup with a kill, 11-9, but PSU responded with a 6-1 scoring streak to bolster the advantage to seven, 17-10. The Wildcats looked to get back on track with a kill, 17-11, but Lee sparked a 5-2 stretch that sent Penn State ahead by as many as nine, 22-13.
Two Northwestern kills trimmed the margin to seven, 22-15, but a Wildcat attack error and a block from Lee and Whitney lifted Penn State to set point, 24-15. Northwestern held off two attempts before serving long to give the Nittany Lions a 25-17 win in the fourth set.
Trailing by as many as five in the fifth set, 6-1, a block from Whitney and Lee and a kill from Washington shaved the deficit to three, 6-3. The Wildcats answered back with a 3-1 strike to move back ahead by five, 9-4. A Northwestern attack error gave the Nittany Lions an opportunity, but Penn State called timeout after another NU kill made it 10-5. Penn State rallied out of the break with a 4-2 stretch to pull within three, 12-9.
Penn State and Northwestern traded points before a Wildcat attack error brought the Nittany Lions within two, 13-11, causing NU to call a timeout. A Nittany Lion attack error out of the break made it match point for the Wildcats, 14-11. An NU service error held off the attempt before a Wildcat kill gave Northwestern a 15-12 win in the fifth set.
Penn State returns home next week for a pair of Big Ten matches in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions host Indiana Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m., before welcoming Purdue Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.