Aug. 26, 2017
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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - Five players recorded at least five kills as No. 6 Penn State defeated Delaware in straight sets, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-10), as part of the West Virginia Tournament this morning from the WVU Coliseum.
The Nittany Lions (2-0) hit a blistering .519 for the match while committing just 8 errors in the three sets. Senior classmates Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Heidi Thelen (Edgewood, Ky.) led the way at .833 and .700, respectively.
Senior Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) secured a game-high 11 kills while Washington added 10. Both Thelen and senior Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio) each collected seven kills and senior Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) added five. Frantti is now just four kills shy of the 1,000 kill milestone for her career.
Junior Bryanna Weiskircher (Loves Park, Ill.) once again paced the team in assists with 24 while Detering added 17. Lee led the way with 12 digs and sophomore Kendall White (Indianapolis, Ind.) turned in seven to pace the defense.
Penn State started fast in its opening match of the day taking the first set against Delaware (0-2) by a 25-15 score. Both Washington and Thelen hit a perfect 1.000 with five and three kills, respectively, in the opening set.
The second set was more of the same with Washington adding four more kills as the Nittany Lions went into the break with a 25-16 second set victory and a 2-0 match lead.
PSU came out for the third set clicking on all cylinders jumping out to leads of 5-0 and 12-2 finally taking the set 25-10 after the match-clinching kill by Lee. Lee had five of her match-high 11 kills in the final set while Frantti added three and a hitting percentage of 1.000.
The third set was also the best defensively for the Lions as they secured five of their six blocks during the final set.
The Lions close out their opening weekend this evening as they battle the host Mountaineers at 7 p.m.