Oct. 24, 2015
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A balanced offensive attack guided No. 5 Penn State (19-2, 8-2) to a straight set victory (25-23, 25-22, 25-17) on the road at Michigan State (14-7, 6-4) Saturday evening at Jenison Field House.
A total of five Nittany Lions finished with at least five kills in the win, led by 10 kills from sophomore Simone Lee. Lee's double digit performance marks the fifth consecutive match she's recorded 10 or more kills.
Sophomore Ali Frantti finished second on the team with nine kills, while also finishing second on the team with 13 digs and four total blocks.
Sophomore Haleigh Washington logged eight kills on .385 hitting, while redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney tallied seven kills and a team-high five total blocks. Redshirt freshman Nia Reed matched a career-high mark with six kills, while also posting a personal best three total blocks.
Freshman libero Keeton Holcomb fueled the defense with a match-high 18 digs. Senior Kendall Pierce finished tied for third on the team with nine digs.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher directed the offense to a .233 hitting efficiency, dishing out 32 assists to go along with nine digs and a trio of kills.
Penn State opened the match on a 7-0 run to take control of an early advantage. The Spartans called timeout and regrouped with a 7-2 scoring streak to shrink the Nittany Lion lead to two, 9-7. Reed looked to spark some momentum with a kill, 10-7, but Michigan State answered matched PSU point-for-point for the next three points to remain within two, 12-10.
A Spartan service error and a kill from Lee opened up a 4-2 stretch that sent the Nittany Lions ahead by as many as four, 16-12, causing MSU to call a timeout. A Spartan kill and a PSU attack error out of the break brought Michigan State back within two, 16-14, but three straight errors extended the Nittany Lion advantage to five, 19-14. Michigan State came rallying back with four consecutive kills to narrow the margin to one, 19-18.
Penn State followed with a 3-1 strike capped off by back-to-back kills from Frantti and Lee to lift the Nittany Lions ahead by three, 22-19. The Spartans came battling back with a 3-1 spurt to cut the advantage back to one, 23-22. A kill from Whitney made it set point, but the Spartans followed with a kill to make it 24-23, causing PSU to call a timeout. Lee came out of the huddle with a kill to secure a 25-23 win in the first set.
The Nittany Lions got out to another fast start in the second set, using a 6-0 run for an early lead. Michigan State called a timeout and came out of the break with a 5-2 streak to shave the PSU advantage back to three, 8-5. Frantti looked to put Penn State back on track with a pair of kills in between one from MSU, but the Spartans followed with a block before a Nittany Lion error make it 10-8. Penn State responded with another 3-1 strike, featuring two kills from Washington to move the Nittany Lions ahead, 13-9.
The Spartans came rallying back with a 4-2 run to arrive within two, 15-13, but a kill from Frantti and a Spartan attack error sent Penn State up 17-13, causing MSU to call a timeout. Michigan State came out of the break with a 6-3 scoring stretch to pull within one, 20-19, forcing Penn State to use a timeout. Penn State quickly put together a 4-1 run to make it set point, 24-20. The Spartans held off two attempts with back-to-back kills, but a kill from Whitney closed out a 25-22 win in the second set.
The Nittany Lions opened the third set on an 11-3 run to take control of early advantage, prompting Michigan State to call a timeout. Penn State came out of the break with a pair of consecutive blocks to spark a 5-1 streak that pushed the PSU lead into double figures, 16-4. The Spartans looked to get back on track with a kill, 16-5, but an attack error and a kill from Lee widened the Nittany Lion lead, 18-5, causing MSU to use its final timeout.
The Nittany Lions continued to cruise out of the break, surging to set point, 24-12, without letting the advantage dip below 10 points. The Spartans made one final attempt to mount a comeback, holding off five consecutive match points attempts before Frantti finished off a 25-17 win in the third set with a kill to complete the sweep.
Next week, the Nittany Lions will square off against Big Ten travel partner Ohio State in the annual conference home-and-away series. Penn State will play the Buckeyes twice in a three-day span beginning with a trip to Columbus for a midweek matchup Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.