Oct. 14, 2016
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 10 Penn State women's volleyball team (15-3, 7-0 Big Ten) took down No. 22 Purdue (11-7, 1-6 Big Ten) behind impressive efforts from junior outside hitter Simone Lee and classmate setter Abby Detering on Friday evening inside Holloway Gymnasium.
Penn State continued to be one of the nation's most efficient offenses, as Detering guided the team to hitting at a scorching .322 clip. For the 16th time in 2016, junior outside hitter Simone Lee led the offense, pacing the team with 16 kills.
Five players scored on kills, with junior Haleigh Washington coming in second on the team with eight kills on a team-best .583 hitting. The Colorado Springs, Colorado, native added a block. Detering and junior outside hitter Ali Frantti both posted five kills as Detering dished out a team-high 29 assists. Redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell posted four kills and a team-best three blocks, while junior opposite Heidi Thelen added four of her own.
Defensively, freshman libero Kendall White was exceptional once again, logging 11 digs in the outing. Detering and Frantti added seven and five, respectively. Sophomore defensive specialist Keeton Holcomb added five of her own.
With the win, Penn State extends its winning streak to 13-straight. The streak, third best in the country, matches the team's longest win streak of 2015, in which PSU won its first 13 matches.
Penn State closes out its road trip tomorrow night, taking on the Hoosiers of Indiana at 7 p.m. ET.
The Nittany Lions opened the match vying for position in the early going. Purdue opened on a 5-3 run, with PSU's strongest play in the opening eight points coming on a block from Thelen and Gorrell. Thelen punished the ball and Frantti followed with a kill of her own to tie, 5-5. A huge swing from Detering made the lead three at 8-5. Purdue went on a 3-1 run before a huge kill from Washington ended the spurt. A block by Gorrell and Lee made it a three-point set at 11-8. The Blue and White continued to climb, gaining a five-point, 14-9 lead, when Purdue called for time.
The two sides went back and forth out of the break, before a block from Washington and Detering gave PSU a five point lead once again at 18-13. Both sides scored twice with a massive kill off the slide courtesy of Washington highlighting the span, as PSU took a 20-15 lead. Purdue used its final timeout of the set. A massive kill out of the break from Lee and another from Detering made it 23-17. Lee hammered down a kill to set up set point before Frantti logged her second of the night to secure the 25-18 set one win.
An impressive kill on the pipe from Lee highlighted the first five points of the second set, as Purdue took an early 3-2 lead. An impressive kill Detering tied the match at 4-4 before Holcomb aced the Boilermakers to make it 6-4 for PSU. Purdue opened a 3-1 run to tie the match at 7-all before an ace from Frantti gave PSU the lead once again. Washington scored again on the slide to make it 10-7 in Penn State's favor, before a kill from Lee the next play forced Purdue to call its first timeout of the set at 11-7.
Lee thundered down an overpass out of the break before Purdue responded with four consecutive points to pull within one, 12-11. The Nittany Lions then made a rally of their own, rattling off four-straight to make it 16-11 in their favor. Lee thumped another ball, forcing Purdue's second timeout at 17-11. Purdue fired back out of the timeout, putting together four points in a row when Penn State used its first timeout with a 17-15 lead. Lee's 10th kill of the evening and an ace from Detering fueled a 3-0 run for PSU to make it 21-16 for the Blue and White. Purdue fended off set point once before Lee's 12th kill of the evening secured set two, 25-17.
A kill on the fifth point from Thelen gave PSU its first lead of the third set at 3-2. PSU took the lead again at 5-4 when Frantti pegged a member of Purdue's back line with the ball. Penn State jumped ahead to 9-6 following another hammer by Lee and an ace from redshirt sophomore Bryanna Weiskircher. Two plays later PSU forced a Purdue error for the 11-7 lead when the Boilermakers called for a timeout.
Two plays later Lee hammered a kill to make it a 7-1 run for PSU and a 13-7 lead. Gorrell striped one down the middle five plays later for a 15-10 Penn State edge. Purdue called for time a point later, trailing by six. The Nittany Lions didn't slow, tacking on another two points before Purdue scored, making the lead 18-10. A strong cross-body kill from Washington followed by one from Detering made it 20-11. Strikes from Frantti and Lee extended the lead to 22-14. Purdue held off match point three times before PSU won the match, 25-17.
NOTES:
Team
- No. 10 Penn State defeated Purdue in straight sets, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-17). It marked 13-straight victories for the team, and improved its record to 7-0 in Big Ten conference play.
- Over the 13-match winning streak, Penn State (15-3, 7-0 Big Ten) has dropped just three sets.
- As a team, Penn State logged a hitting percentage over .300 for the 13th time in the 2016 campaign. Three Nittany Lions hit .375 or better.
- Lee led the team in kills for the 16th time this year. Gorrell paced the team in blocks for her 10th time.
Series
- Penn State holds a 53-6 advantage all-time in the series against the Boilermakers.
- The Nittany Lions are now 24-3 when playing against Purdue in West, Lafayette, Indiana, and is on a 10-match win streak against the Boilermakers.
Players
Simone Lee, junior outside hitter: Lee led Penn State in kills for the 16th time in 2016 with a match-high 15 during the sweep. She added two digs and a block.
Haleigh Washington, junior middle blocker: Washington hit a team best .583 with eight kills and a block.
Tori Gorrell, redshirt freshman middle blocker: Gorrell led the team in blocks with three while adding four kills and a dig.
Abby Detering, junior setter: Detering led Penn State to .322 hitting, dishing 29 assists. She also had a career-best tying five kills in the sweep.
Kendall White, freshman defense specialist: White led PSU in digs for the 15th time, logging a match best 11.