Aug. 26, 2017
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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - Senior Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) became just the 26th player in program history to reach 1,000 kills as the No. 6 Penn State women's volleyball team defeated West Virginia in straight sets, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-5), to close out the West Virginia Tournament this evening from the WVU Coliseum.
Penn State (3-0) didn't surrender a single set all weekend and got stronger as each match went on only allowing a total of 23 points in the third set in three total matches. PSU finished the evening hitting .493 with only six attack errors.
Senior Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) paced the team again with 12 kills while hitting .455. Senior classmates Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio), Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore Tori Gorrell (Oakville, Ont.) added seven kills each while hitting .429, .545 and .545, respectively.
Penn State opened the match fast hitting .632 in the opening set with five blocks. Both Gorrell and Washington slammed three kills while senior Heidi Thelen (Edgewood, Ky.) and Lee swung 1.000 with a pair of kills each.
In set two the Lions rattled off seven consecutive points early to grab a 10-2 lead, but WVU fought back cutting the deficit to 11-7 after back-to-back blocks by Mia Swanegan midway through the set. PSU responded taking a 22-13 lead after consecutive kills from Detering and Frantti finished the set with her 1,000 career kill for the 25-15 score.
In true weekend fashion Penn State cruised in the third set using 18 straight points to jump out to a 21-2 lead after 17 straight serves by sophomore Kendall White (Indianapolis, Ind.). Lee had three kills and a block during the run.
Washington, who was named tournament MVP, finished the match by stuffing home an over set for the 25-5 final. Lee was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
Penn State hits the road again next weekend as they travel to College Station, Tx. to battle Stanford and the host Aggies on Friday and Saturday evening.