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Oct. 17, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Double figure kills from sophomores Haleigh Washington and Simone Lee guided No. 5 Penn State (17-2, 6-2) past No. 18 Purdue (15-4, 6-2) in straight sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-17) Saturday evening at Rec Hall.
"I thought we played much better than we did last night, against a team that started the weekend as the number one team in the conference," head coach Russ Rose said.
Lee fueled the offense with a match-high 12 kills on .333 hitting. Washington finished with 10 kills on 17 errorless swings, while also powering the Nittany Lion blocking unit with nine total blocks, including three solo stuffs.
Sophomore Ali Frantti finished third on the team with nine kills on .318 hitting, while also leading the team with a match-high 11 digs. Frantti also finished second on the team with a career-high six blocks.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher directed the offense to a .315 hitting percentage, passing out 36 assists to go along with six digs and three blocks. Weiskircher also led the Nittany Lions from the endline with a career-high four aces.
"Bryanna played well, served especially well and Haleigh had a great night offensively too. I thought we served and passed really well and had a real nice effort tonight," Rose added.
Penn State and Purdue opened the match trading points to keep the score close. With the frame tied, 3-3, a kill from Lee and a block from Frantti and Whitney helped spark a 5-1 strike that lifted Penn State ahead by as many as four, 8-4. The Boilermakers looked to cut off the momentum with a kill, 8-5, but the Nittany Lions regrouped with a 4-1 run capped off by back-to-back solo stuffs from Washington to double the advantage, 12-6.
Washington and Weiskircher came out of the break with a block, 13-6, but the Boilermakers battled back with a 7-4 run to cut the Nittany Lion lead back to four, 17-13. Penn State called timeout and came out of the break with kills from Whitney and Washington to open up a 4-1 stretch that lifted PSU ahead by as many as seven, 21-14.
The Boilermakers looked to mount a comeback a block, 21-15, but two consecutive kills from Washington and Lee quickly made it 23-15. Purdue made one final attempt to put together a run with two consecutive kills, 23-17, but a kill from Washington made it set point, 24-17. Penn State and Purdue traded service errors, handing the Nittany Lions a 25-18 win in the first set.
Much like the opening frame, Penn State and Purdue battled back and forth in the first part of the second set. With the score knotted 8-8, an ace from Weiskircher and a Purdue attack error gave the Nittany Lions a two-point cushion, 10-8. A PSU attack error shaved the advantage to one, 10-9, but a kill from redshirt freshman Nia Reed sparked a 4-2 stretch that sent the Nittany Lions up by three, 14-11.
Purdue called a timeout, but Penn State rallied out of the break with another 4-2 streak to make it 18-13, prompting the Boilermakers to call a timeout. PSU came out of the huddle with a pair of kills and a tandem block from Whitney and Lee to widen the Nittany Lion advantage to as many as eight, 21-13.
The Boilermakers responded with a 4-2 spurt to shrink the Penn State lead to six, 23-17, causing Penn State to call a timeout. Two straight Purdue errors out of the timeout gave the Nittany Lions a 25-17 win in the second set for a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.
Penn State jumped out to a 9-6 lead in the third frame before a pair of Nittany Lion errors pulled Purdue within one, 9-8. A kill from Lee and an ace from Weiskircher sparked a 5-2 strike that lifted Penn State ahead by four, 14-10. The Boilermakers answered with a kill and a tremendous ace to cut the advantage to two, 14-12. Washington followed with back-to-back kills to put together a 6-2 scoring streak that sent Penn State surging ahead, 20-13. Purdue looked to cut off the momentum with a kill, 20-14, but Penn State used a 4-2 stretch to arrive at match point, 24-16.
The Boilermakers held off one attempt before a service error closed out a 25-17 win in the third set in favor of the Nittany Lions to complete the sweep.
Penn State hits the road next week, traveling to the state of Michigan for a pair of Big Ten conference matches. The Nittany Lions travel to Michigan for a midweek matchup Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. before visiting Michigan State Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. Wednesday's match will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.