Oct. 9, 2015
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Led by double figure kills from four Nittany Lions, No. 3 Penn State (15-1, 4-1) pushed past No. 13 Illinois (11-5, 2-3) in four sets (25-16, 25-18, 24-26, 27-25) on the road Friday evening at Huff Hall.
Senior Megan Courtney powered the Penn State offense with 18 kills to go along with a team-high 19 digs for her fourth consecutive and eighth double-double of the season. Courtney totaled six blocks, including three solo stuffs to finish second on the team in the category.
Courtney also joined an elite group, surpassing the 1,000 career kills/1,000 career digs to become just the eighth Nittany Lion in program history to reach the milestone.
Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney finished second on the team with 16 kills on .319 hitting, adding three blocks. Sophomore Haleigh Washington tallied 11 kills, while also leading the team with seven blocks. Sophomore Ali Frantti rounded out the group with 10 kills, adding five digs.
Four Nittany Lions also posted double figure digs. Freshman libero Keeton Holcomb posted 13 digs, while senior Kendall Pierce logged a career-high 10 digs.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher paced the team to a .289 hitting percentage, dishing out 54 assists to go along with 14 digs for her fourth consecutive and fifth double-double of the season.
Penn State also out-blocked the Illini, 13-0-6.5, helped out by multi-block performances from five Nittany Lions.
Penn State and Illinois traded points throughout the first portion of the opening set to keep the score close. With the score tied, 11-11, a kill from Lee and two from Courtney sparked a 6-1 streak that lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by five, 17-12. Looking to cut off the momentum, the Illini called a timeout, but Courtney came out of the break with a kill to make it 18-12.
Illinois came storming back with two kills in between a Penn State attack error following a kill from Lee, to trim the deficit to four, 19-15. The Nittany Lions answered with a 6-1 scoring streak capped off by kills from Courtney and Frantti to secure a 25-16 win in the first set.
Leading by one in the second set, 4-3, Washington and Frantti put away two consecutive kills to bring PSU ahead by three, 6-3. Illinois came rallying back with a 4-0 streak to take over a one-point lead, 7-6. Washington and Frantti responded with a pair of kills once again to send Penn State ahead, 8-7.
Penn State and Illinois briefly traded points, 9-8, before Penn State used a 3-0 spurt featuring a pair of kills from Whitney to move ahead by four, 12-8, prompting the Illini to call a timeout. The Fighting Illini came out of the break with a pair of kills, but Whitney put down a kill to keep PSU ahead by three, 13-10.
The Illini looked to get back on track with a kill, 13-11, but Whitney and Courtney opened up an 8-4 run with back-to-back kills to send Penn State surging ahead by as many as six, 21-15. A Penn State attack error out of an Illinois timeout made it 21-16, but PSU responded with a 3-1 strike capped off by an ace from senior Kendall Pierce made it set point, 24-17. Illinois held off one attempt before Whitney put away her seventh kill of the second set to close out a 25-18 win in the second set.
Penn State jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set before a pair of kills from the Illini brought Illinois within one, 4-3. Kills from Courtney and Lee in between an Illinois attack error quickly build the PSU advantage back to four, 7-3. The Illini rallied back with a 6-2 run to tie the score, 9-9. Washington and Whitney cracked open the knotted frame with two consecutive kills to give Penn State a two-point cushion, 11-9.
The Fighting Illini responded with a kill to trim the advantage back to one, 11-10, but a kill from Weiskircher and a block from Lee and Whitney lifted Penn State back up by three, 13-10, prompting Illinois to call a timeout. Penn State followed a 3-0 spurt capped off by a block from Courtney to make it 16-10.
With Penn State unable to sustain the momentum, Illinois regrouped with a 6-3 stretch to cut the Nittany Lion lead back to three, 19-16, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. An Illinois attack error followed by a kill from Whitney lifted PSU ahead, 21-16, causing the Illini to call a timeout. Courtney came out of the huddle with a kill, 22-16, but three straight Illinois kills moved the Illini back within three, 22-19, forcing Penn State to call a timeout.
Illinois pulled within two out of the break, 22-20, but a kill from Frantti gave Penn State a three-point advantage, 23-20. Frantti followed another Illinois kill with a kill to set the Nittany Lions up for set point, 24-21. The Fighting Illini came charging back with five unanswered points to take set three, 26-24.
Penn State shot out to a 5-2 lead for an early advantage in the fourth frame. The Illini answered back with a 5-2 streak to knot the score, 7-7. PSU and Illinois continued to battle back and forth, with neither team pulling away with the advantage.
With the score locked up at 11-11, a kill from Whitney and a pair of Illinois attack errors pulled the Nittany Lions ahead, 14-11. The Illini answered with a kill, but another kill from Whitney lifted Penn State ahead by three, 15-12 at the media timeout.
Penn State came out of the break with a block, but Illinois used a 4-0 streak to tie the score, 16-16. The Nittany Lions and the Illini continued to trade points, keeping the score knotted. With the stanza tied up, 19-19 a pair of Illinois errors pulled Penn State ahead by two, 21-19, forcing the Fighting Illini to call a timeout. Illinois came out the break with a 3-1 strike to tie the score, 22-22.
Penn State and Illinois continued to trade points to lock up the score three more times, 25-25, before Courtney closed out a 27-25 win in the fourth set with back-to-back kills to finish off the 3-1 victory.
Penn State returns to action to action tomorrow night, heading to Northwestern to square off against the Wildcats Saturday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. ET in Evanston.