Oct. 20, 2017
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| Holloway Gym | West Lafayette, Ind. |
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| POST GAME LINKS |
| HTML Box Score || Penn State 3, Purdue 1 |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. -- The No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball team took down No. 17 Purdue, 3-1; 25-22, 25-14, 25-21, 25-10, in a thriller of Big Ten play in Holloway Gymnasium on Friday evening.
Senior Heidi Thelen (Edgewood, Ky.) put together a career performance for the Nittany Lions as the right side put down a career-best 14 kills, hitting .542 for the match, adding five blocks and four digs.
In a downright scrappy match, the Nittany Lions climbed out to a 2-0 lead.
Through the first two sets, it was the play of Thelen and Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) that guided the Nittany Lions to a 2-0 lead heading into the break. Thelen was all-around impressive, putting down seven kills, on a .700 clip, adding four digs, and two blocks through two. Frantti led with nine kills into the intermission.
However, the Boilermakers, who were playing in front of a large home crowd, refused to go away.
With long rally, after long rally, the Nittany Lions were bested by the home squad, 25-21. Purdue hit .256 in the third set to Penn State's .171.
In the fourth set, Penn State stepped on the proverbial pedal, hitting .394 in the final set, and they held Purdue to .000.
This marked the first match since Sept. 1, that four Nittany Lions hit double-figure kills.
Frantti led the way with 15 kills, while Thelen's 14 were second. Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) followed with 13 kills with 12 digs for the double-double. Haleigh Washington put down 10 kills on .450 hitting, with a team-best six blocks.
Kendall White (Indianapolis, Ind.) was a defensive mastermind for the Nittany Lions, scooping up 19 digs, and making endless cover plays. She also held serve multiple times throughout the match to give help the Nittany Lions point-score.
Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio) dished out 34 assists, while Bryanna Weiskircher (Rockford, Ill.) added 20.
For the match, the Nittany Lions put down 61 kills on .336 hitting, while Purdue tallied 41 on a clip of .172.
Penn State returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 21, with a 7 p.m. match against Indiana. Indiana took down Rutgers, 3-2; 25-17, 14-25, 22-25, 25-15, 15-9.