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Nov. 21, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Led by 11 kills from senior Megan Courtney, fourth-ranked Penn State (25-4, 14-4) swept Maryland (13-19, 3-15) in straight sets (25-20, 25-11, 25-13) Saturday evening in front of a season-high crowd of 6,505 fans at Rec Hall.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher directed the offense to a .358 hitting percentage, dishing out 33 assists to go along with a team-high three aces.
Sophomore Haleigh Washington finished second on the team with seven kills on .500 hitting, while also tying for first on the team with four blocks. Sophomores Ali Frantti and Simone Lee logged six kills each.
Frantti finished second on the team with seven digs, while also posting four total blocks, including two solo stuffs. Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney tallied six kills on 12 perfect swings, while also finishing tied for first on the team with four blocks.
Penn State out-blocked the Terrapins 11.0-3.0, helped out by multi-block performances from six Nittany Lions.
Senior Kendall Pierce started at libero for the Nittany Lions in all three sets, notching a team-high 12 digs.
Penn State and Maryland opened up the first set trading points for the first half of the frame. With the Nittany Lions trailing by two, 15-13, Penn State used a 4-0 streak, featuring a pair of aces from Weiskircher to take over a two-point lead, 17-15.
Maryland called a timeout and came out of the break battling, using a 3-2 stretch to arrive within one, 19-18. Lee and Whitney quickly cut off the run with a pair of kills to send Penn State up, 21-18, causing the Terps to use their final timeout of the set.
A Nittany Lion attack error and a Terrapin service ace cut the advantage to two, 22-20, but a kill from Washington and an ace from freshman Wilma Rivera made it set point, 24-20. A Maryland attack error on the next point secured a 25-20 win in favor of the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions shot out to a 10-3 lead in the second set, prompting Maryland to call an early timeout. Penn State continued to roll out of the break, as Washington sparked a 4-1 streak that lifted PSU ahead by as many as 10, 14-4, causing the Terps to call another timeout.
Maryland looked to get back on track with a kill, 14-5, but Penn State answered with a 7-3 scoring streak, capped off by an ace from Pierce to make it 21-8. The Terrapins looked to halt the momentum with a kill, 22-9, but PSU answered back with a 3-1 strike, featuring a pair of kills from Lee and Courtney to make it set point, 24-10. The Terps held off just one attempt before Washington put away a kill to close out a 25-11 win in the second set.
Penn State and Maryland battled point-for-point early in the third set. With the score knotted, 8-8, PSU cracked open the tied frame with a 6-1 run to pull ahead by five, 14-9. Maryland looked to break up the run with a timeout, but the Nittany Lions answered with three unanswered points out of the break to make it 17-9, causing the Terps to use their final timeout. Maryland looked to regroup with a quick 2-1 spurt, 18-11, but PSU followed with a 5-1 streak, finished off by a pair of blocks from Washington and Weiskircher and Frantti to widen the advantage to 11, 23-12.
A Terrapin attack error on the next point made it match point for the Nittany Lions, 24-12. Maryland held off one attempt before Weiskircher won a joust at the net to wrap up a 25-13 win in the third set to complete the sweep.
Penn State closes out the regular season next with two final Big Ten conference matches. The Nittany Lions hosts Northwestern Wednesday, Nov. 25 on Senior Night at Rec Hall before heading to Nebraska to take on the Huskers Saturday, Nov. 28 live on BTN.