Aug. 25, 2017
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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The sixth-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team opened its season in the West Virginia Tournament on Friday evening defeating UT-Martin in straight sets, 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-8), at the WVU Coliseum.
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Penn State (1-0) started slow in each of the first two sets before turning it on midway through and securing commanding 25-13 victories in each.
Senior Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio) led the way in the opening set hitting 1.000 with four kills and a pair of blocks. As a team the Nittany Lions combined for six blocks in the opening set. Classmate Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) then took the reins in the second set hitting .714 with five kills to pace the offense.
Following the ten-minute break, Penn State pounced UT-Martin (0-1) in the third set jumping out to a commanding 15-0 lead. Senior Heidi Thelen (Edgewood, Ky.) secured six of her nine kills in the decisive set while hitting .857.
PSU hit .397 for the match with both Thelen and senior Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Colo.) swinging at .615 and .600, respectively. Lee finished at .438 and Detering hit .417. Detering and Washington added seven and six kills, respectively.
Sixteen players saw action in the match for Penn State including freshmen Michaela Putnicki (Monument, Colo.) and Cami May (Katy, Tx.), who each recorded the first kill of their careers. May's lone kill was the match clincher in the third set.
Junior Bryanna Weiskircher (Loves Park, Ill.) finished with a match-high 27 assists. Senior Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) finished with a game-best three solo blocks while adding two kills to move to within nine of the 1,000 kill plateau.
The Nittany Lions improve to 34-7-1 all-time in season openers and have now won their opening match in six consecutive seasons all in straight sets, 3-0.
Penn State returns to the Coliseum to close out their opening weekend tournament with a pair of contests tomorrow against Delaware and the host Mountaineers at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.