Sept. 17, 2016
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | #20 Penn State
| 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 | | Clemson | 14 | 17 | 12 | 0 |
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| Penn State Statistical Leaders | | • Kills: S. Lee - 10 - .364 (10-2-22) | | • Blocks: H. Washington - 6 | | • Digs: K. White - 15 | | • Assists: A. Detering - 33 | | • Aces: Detering - 1 |
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| Stat Comparison | PSU | CLE | | Kills | 38 | 25 | | Hitting Pct. | .383 | -.010 | Assists
| 36 | 25 | | Aces | 1 | 4 | | Digs | 42 | 35 | Total Team Blocks
| 10.0 | 1.0 |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 20 Penn State women's volleyball team (8-3) swept both the Clemson Tigers (5-7) and the Penn State Invitational in Rec Hall on Saturday night after a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) win over its final opponent of the non-conference season.
The trio of Abby Detering, Haleigh Washington and Heide Thelen earned all-tournament team honors after exceptional performances over the weekend. Detering guided the team to a .354 hitting clip in three matches, dishing out 91 assists while adding 14 digs, seven kills, six blocks and three service aces. Washington led the team in both kills (27) and hitting percentage (.610) over the weekend while also posting a team-best 15 blocks. Thelen's transition to right side proved a wise decision, as she came second on the team in kills with 21 while hitting at a .447 clip. She added four blocks, a pair of digs and an assist.
The Penn State standouts were joined by Rhode Island's Audrey Castro, Clemson's Leah Perri and Howard's Khaila Donaldson.
The Blue and White now enter the Big Ten Conference portion of its schedule. The Nittany Lions will kick off league play with a pair of road trips, first taking to Piscataway, New Jersey for a bout with Rutgers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET before flying to Evanston, Illinois to face Northwestern on Sunday, September 25 at 1 p.m. ET.
Penn State saw the majority of its offense come from Ali Frantti, Simone Lee and Washington in the first set, with each of the players notching three kills in the opening frame. After a 7-7 tie, the offense erupted for a 4-0 spurt with both Lee and Frantti making their presence known in the burst for an 11-7 lead. A few points later PSU took off for another 4-0 run, with a kill from Tori Gorrell and an ace courtesy of Detering making the score 17-10 when Clemson called its lone timeout of the set. It wouldn't slow the Nittany Lions who expanded the run to 8-0, grabbing a 21-10 lead. Clemson fended off two set points before Penn State took the first, 25-14.
Lee and Thelen posted four kill apiece while Washington added three kills and three blocks in the second frame. PSU did not trail throughout the second set after opening on a 4-2 run. Clemson came within one multiple times before a 4-0 run capped by Thelen's second kill of the scoring session made it 17-12. Clemson came within three at 18-15 before three consecutive kills from Washington launched a 7-2 outburst to win the second, 25-17.
The team held Clemson to -.075 in the final frame of action in a dominant 25-12 victory. The Nittany Lions opened on a 4-0 run and never looked back. Clemson came within one after a 3-0 spurt of their own before a pair of kills from Lee grew the score to 8-4. After kills from Thelen and Washington the crowd erupted in its loudest response of the night as freshman defensive specialist Kendall White struck a back row kill to force a Clemson timeout with a 12-5 edge. From there the lead only grew. PSU closed out the match on an 8-2 run, clinching the win and the perfect weekend.
Notes: Team
- No. 20 Penn State swept Clemson in three sets (25-14,25-17,25-12) Saturday evening to close out the Penn State invitational with 3-0 mark.
- Tonight's win extends the Nittany Lions to a 6-0 winning streak and their seventh straight-set victory of the season.
- Junior Simone Lee led the offense in the match posting 10 kills while junior Haleigh Washington and junior Heidi Thelen recorded eight kills apiece.
- Penn State out-blocked Clemson 10.0 - 1.0 thanks to multi-block performances by six different Nittany Lions. Junior Haleigh Washington tallied a match-high six blocks including one solo stuff. Junior Simone Lee and junior Abby Detering tied to finish second with three blocks each.
- The Nittany Lions out-dug the Tigers 42-35, led by a match-high 15 digs from freshman Kendall White. This is her ninth match of the season leading the team in digs.
Series
- Penn State moves to 8-0 in the all-time series against Clemson and 2-0 in matches played at home in Rec Hall.
- The Nittany Lions currently have a 3-0 winning streak against the Tigers.
Players
- Haleigh Washington, junior middle blocker: Washington led the blocking unit for the seventh time of the season posting six blocks, including two solo stuffs. She also tied to finish second on the team adding eight kills and two digs.
- Simone Lee, junior outside hitter: Lee recorded 10 kills in tonight's match, marking her tenth double figure kill performance of the season. She also dished out seven digs and three blocks, including two solo stuffs.
- Kendall White, freshman defense specialist: White tallied a match-high 15 digs, finishing top in the category for the third consecutive match. Tonight marks her fifth match with 15 or more digs.
- Abby Detering, junior setter: Detering passed out 33 assists, pacing the team to a .383 hitting percentage, to go along with three digs and three blocks.
- Heidi Thelen, junior middle blocker: Thelen finished third on the team putting away eight blocks for a squad-best .583 hitting clip.
