Nov. 26, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 15 Penn State volleyball team (22-9, 14-6 Big Ten), took down the Illinois Fighting Illini in its regular season finale, 3-1 (25-18, 26-24, 19-25, 25-21) on Saturday evening inside the friendly confines of Rec Hall.
Four Nittany Lions scored in double figures during the contest, with junior outside hitter Simone Lee leading the group once again. The Menemonee Falls, Wis., native led the squad with 20 kills while adding five digs.
Fellow outside hitter Ali Frantti posted 16 kills, seven digs, three assists, a pair of blocks and ace in the contest. Classmates Haleigh Washington and Heidi Thelen posted 10 kill each. Washington had four digs, a block and an ace, while Thelen posted a team-best two blocks.
Junior setter Abby Detering led the team's offensive efforts, dishing 57 assists for a team hitting percentage of .329. She added seven digs, a pair of aces, and four kills.
Once again, freshman libero Kendall White led the back row defense, posting 16 kills in the outing.
Penn State will find out its NCAA tournament fate tomorrow night at 9 p.m., as ESPNU hosts the annual NCAA Volleyball selection show.
Penn State commanded the first set, cruising to a 9-2 lead and the team never looked back. Lee and Thelen posted four kills each while Washington and redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell each had three as PSU posted a .375 hitting percentage in the opening frame. The Nittany Lions also scored on the three aces in the first set of action, as the final one came from Detering to make the score 24-16. Illinois fended off a pair of set points before Thelen's fourth kill sealed it, 25-18.
The second set went back and forth, with the teams tying 19 times and the lead changing six times in the second frame. After tying at 19-19, Penn State pulled ahead twice, forcing Illinois timeouts at 21-19 and 23-20. After the second Illini break, Illinois tied the match at 24-all. After a Penn State timeout, back-to-back kills from Lee and Thelen sent PSU into the locker room up 2-0.
PSU struggled in the third set, with 12 total errors between attacking and the service line costing the team. Lee posted a set-best five kills in the third frame, but Illinois played a clean set to earn the 25-19 victory.
Penn State had to dig itself out of a 4-1 hole in the early going in the fourth, but kills from Washington, Lee and Frantti powered Penn State to a 7-7 tie. The two sides tied six more times before back-to-back kills from Lee and Washington again made it a 15-13 PSU edge. Illinois called for time. Lee tacked on three more hammers for a 19-16 lead, forcing the second Illinois timeout. The Illini came within one before Penn State used a 5-2 run at the end the final set, with Washington's 10th kill making the final set score 25-21.
NOTES:
Team
-No. 15 Penn State pushed past Illinois is four sets (25-18, 26-24,19-25, 25-21), to close out the regular season Saturday evening.
-Tonight's win improves the Nittany Lions overall record to 22-9 and Big Ten Record to 14-6.
-Four Nittany Lions recorded double figure kills in tonight's match. Junior Simone Lee led the offense posting 20 kills and junior Ali Frantti finished second on the team with 16 kills. Junior Haleigh Washington and junior Heidi Thelen each tallied 10 kills apiece.
-The Nittany Lions out-dug the Fighting Illini 46-45, led by a match-high 16 digs from freshman Kendall White.
-Penn State out-aced Illinois, 6-3, thanks to service aces by three Nittany Lions. Junior Abby Detering and freshman Kendall White led the way registering a pair of aces each.
Series
-Penn State moves to a 51-9 advantage in the all-time series against Illinois and leads 24-3 in matches played at home in Rec Hall.
Players
Simone Lee, junior outside hitter: Lee notched a match-high 20 kills, marking her fifth match of the season with 20 or more kills. She also added five digs and one solo stuff.
Haleigh Washington, junior middle blocker: Washington logged 10 kills in the match to go along with four digs, one block and one service ace.
Ali Frantti, junior outside hitter: Frantti finished second on the team putting down 16 kills and dishing out seven digs. She also contributed three assists and two blocks.
Kendall White, freshman defense specialist: White registered a team-high 16 digs to go along with two service aces and two assists.
Abby Detering, junior setter: Detering passed out 57 assists, pacing the team to .329 hitting and posted four kills. She also tied to lead the team from the service line with two aces.
Heidi Thelen, junior middle blocker: Thelen recorded 10 kills, marking her sixth match with double-digit kills.
Tori Gorrell, redshirt freshman middle blocker: Gorrell charted five kills, two blocks and one dig.