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Aug. 29, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Behind double figure kills from senior Megan Courtney and sophomore Ali Frantti, No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball (2-0) swept past Stony Brook (0-2) in three sets (25-13, 25-13, 25-20) Saturday afternoon.
Penn State returns to action later this evening, hosting Villanova in the final match of the Penn State Classic. First serve between the Nittany Lions and the Wildcats is set for 7:30 p.m. Penn State will raise the 2014 NCAA national championship banner in a special prematch ceremony.
Senior Megan Courtney led the offense with 11 kills on 17 perfect swings, posting a .647 hitting clip to go along with nine digs and four blocks. Sophomore Ali Frantti also logged her first double-digit kill performance of the season, registering 10 kills, three digs and two blocks.
Penn State out-blocked Stony Brook 13.5 to 2.0, led by multi-block performances from six different Nittany Lions. Sophomore Heidi Thelen led the group for the second consecutive outing, totaling nine blocks. Redshirt senior Aiyana Whitney tallied five blocks and six kills, while sophomore Haleigh Washington added four blocks and seven kills.
Redshirt freshman Bryanna Weiskircher dished out 30 assists, pacing the team to a .398 hitting percentage. Freshman Wilma Rivera also checked in at setter in parts of sets two and three, tallying five assists and three digs.
Freshman Keeton Holcomb tied for first on the team with nine digs, starting at libero in all three sets. Tied at 3-3 early in the first set, Penn State cracked open the tied score with a 7-2 run to double the advantage, 10-5, prompting Stony Brook to call a timeout. Penn State and Stony Brook traded points out of the break, with the Seawolves using a 5-4 stretch to arrive within four, 14-10. Regrouping, Penn State put together a 9-3 run to construct a double digit lead, 23-13.
The Seawolves called a timeout looking to put an end to the run, but Washington came out of the huddle with a kill to make it set point, 24-13. Washington and Weiskircher teamed up for a block on the next play to secure a 24-13 win in the first set.
Penn State shot out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, capped off by back-to-back blocks. The Seawolves looked to break up the momentum with a kill, 5-2, but the Nittany Lions responded with a kill and an ace to make it 7-2. Stony Brook managed to cut off the run, 7-3, but PSU surged ahead on a 9-5 strike to bolster the lead, 16-8.
A Penn State service error and a Stony Brook kill put the Seawolves within six, 16-10, but Penn State didn't let its advantage dip below the mark for the remainder of the frame, locking up a 25-13 win to enter the intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions and the Seawolves kept it close in the first half of the third set. Tied at 13-13, Penn State followed Stony Brook attack error with an ace from junior Taylor Krause to pull ahead 15-13. The Seawolves responded with a kill, 15-14, but the Nittany Lions answered with two quick points to stay on top, 17-14.
Stony Brook came storming back with four unanswered points to tie the score, 17-17. Frantti halted the momentum with three consecutive kills to lift the Nittany Lions ahead by two, 20-18. Thelen responded with a kill to spark a 4-1 stretch that pushed PSU to set point, 24-19. The Seawolves held off one attempt before Courtney closed out a 25-20 win in the third set to complete the sweep.