Oct. 9, 2016
By Anita Nham, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - An electrifying crowd of 5,312 fans packed Rec Hall to watch No. 15 Penn State women's volleyball sweep Rutgers in three-straight sets (25-13, 25-16, 25-10) on Saturday evening of homecoming weekend.
"I thought the story of the night was the great crowd," head coach Russ Rose said. "It was terrific. I know the players appreciate getting a crowd like that in there...We're certainly never going to be disappointed when we have a full gym like that."
The Nittany Lions and the Scarlet Knights were exchanging points back-and-forth early in the first set, but redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell hammered the ball over the net for a kill that sparked Penn State's offense. The Blue and White continued their offensive streak to create a six-point stretch that eventually led them to win the opening frame, 25-13. Gorrell finished the first set leading the team with five kills.
Gorrell ended the night with a team-high 11 kills on .714 hitting, leading the offense for the first time in her collegiate career. She also recorded three blocks. Junior Simone Lee notched 11 kills, as well, while also adding six digs and three blocks.
Junior Haleigh Washington rounded out the effort recording 10 kills, hitting a team-best .750, where she put away kills on six of her seven swings through the first two sets. Washington also had two digs and a match-high of five blocks.
"Haleigh is always a really good attacker. She's got a great vision," coach Rose said.
Rutgers opened the scoring in the second set and Penn State tried to catch up early on, but the Nittany Lions were still down by two points. However, after a quick regroup on the court, Penn State went on a 7-1 run to get the lead and a two-set advantage in the match.
"You can feel everyone [in the crowd] with us, too, for every single point," senior Carley Muller said. "People are invested in the game - they're ready for us to win. [When we were trailing], I think we wanted to come back and win it for the crowd. Obviously, we could feel that everyone wanted us to win, and we could tell that everyone was investing in what we were doing. We just wanted to get them the win."
With the win over Rutgers, Penn State has now won its last 12 straight victories, improving to 6-0 in Big Ten conference play. The Nittany Lions aren't going to let that record interrupt their focus.
"We just have to keep playing at a high level, so we just need to take it one game at a time, and just stay at a high level," redshirt sophomore Nia Reed said.
Penn State will hit the road next week to continue its Big Ten conference play. The Blue and White will take on Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. Friday, Oct. 14 and Indiana on Sat, Oct. 15 in Bloomington, Ind.