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Nov. 11, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Using a balanced attack, top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball (24-2, 13-2) swept past Iowa (12-16, 2-13) in straight sets (25-16, 25-23, 25-18) on the road Wednesday evening at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Five Nittany Lions had at least six kills in the victory, led by double figure kills from redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney and sophomore Ali Frantti. Frantti posted a team-high 11 kills on .348 hitting, adding four digs and a pair of solo stuffs. Whitney totaled 10 kills on a team-high .643 hitting efficiency.
Sophomore Haleigh Washington tallied eight kills, while senior Megan Courtney had nine kills and a team-high 10 digs.
Penn State owned the advantage in the blocking margin, 10.0-8.0, led by multi-block performances from six Nittany Lions. Whitney and Washington tied for first on the team with four blocks each.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher paced the team to .323 hitting percentage, dishing out 32 assists to go along with five digs and three blocks. Sophomore Simone Lee added three blocks to go along with six kills.
Freshmen Wilma River and Keeton Holcomb finished second on the team with seven digs each.
Trailing by two early in the opening frame, 5-3, consecutive kills from Courtney and Washington quickly tied the score, 5-5. The Hawkeyes looked to spark a run with a kill, 6-5, but Frantti put away two straight kills to give the Nittany Lions the edge, 7-6. Iowa attempted to regroup with a kill, 7-7, but PSU responded with a 7-1 streak to pull ahead by as many as five, 14-9.
A Nittany Lion attack error broke up the rhythm, 14-10, but a kill from Courtney opened up a 4-2 stretch that lifted Penn State up, 18-12, prompting the Hawkeyes to call a timeout. Iowa came out of the break with a kill, 18-13, but PSU fired back with four unanswered points featuring a kill and an ace from Washington to make it 22-13.
The Hawkeyes called another timeout and came out of the break with a 3-1 strike to trim the Penn State advantage, 23-16. Whitney quickly put away back-to-back kills to secure a 25-16 win in the first set.
Iowa jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the second set, causing the Nittany Lions to call an early timeout. Washington and Frantti came out of the break with back-to-back kills to put PSU within two, 9-7. The Hawkeyes looked to widen the advantage with a kill, 10-7, but the Nittany Lions answered with three straight to tie the score, 10-10.
The two teams continued to trade points to keep the frame knotted. With the score tied at 12-12, a pair of kills from Whitney helped the Nittany Lions build a two-point cushion, 14-12. The Hawkeyes looked to get back on track with a kill, 14-13, but PSU responded with a 3-1 spurt, to stretch the advantage to three, 17-14. Iowa called a timeout and came out of the huddle with a kill, 17-15, but a kill from Washington kept PSU ahead, 18-15.
Penn State had trouble continuing the momentum, as Iowa matched the Nittany Lions point-for-point to shave the PSU lead to one, 21-20. An Iowa service error gave the Nittany Lions a two-point lead, but a Hawkeye kill made it 22-21. Another Iowa service error and a kill from Washington in between one from Iowa lifted Penn State to set point, 24-22. The Hawkeyes held off one attempt before Weiskircher and Washington closed out a 25-23 win in the second set with a block.
Clinging to a one-point lead in the third set, 6-5, a kill from Courtney and a block by Weiskircher and Washington opened up a 6-1 run that sent Penn State surging ahead, 12-6, prompting Iowa to call a timeout. The Nittany Lions continued to roll out of the break, bolstering the advantage to as many as eight, 21-13, before Iowa called a timeout.
Frantti came out of the break with her second consecutive solo stuff to make it 22-13. Iowa rallied with a 5-1 run to narrow the Nittany Lion lead, 23-18, prompting Penn State to call a timeout. A kill from Whitney and an ace from Weiskircher secured a 25-18 win in the third set to compete the sweep.
Penn State's four-match road trip rolls along as the Nittany Lions prepare for a road match with critical Big Ten title implications. PSU travels to Minnesota to square off against the fourth-ranked Golden Gophers Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET.