Sept. 30, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 16 Penn State women's volleyball team (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) notched its seventh consecutive sweep on Friday night in Rec Hall, taking down No. 18 Michigan State (12-3, 1-2 Big Ten), 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-13) in front of a raucous crowd of 3,524.
Penn State once again strung together an impressive match, with a strong .333 hitting efficient on offense while limiting the Spartans to just a .103 clip on 97 attacks. PSU logged 42 kills to the Spartans' 31.
The trio of juniors in Simone Lee, Haleigh Washington and Ali Frantti led the way for the Nittany Lions. Lee logged a team-best 12 kills, with Frantti also scoring double-figures with 10 of her own. Washington had nine kills, an ace and a pair of blocks. Lee added a pair of stuffs as well.
Penn State will face No. 22 Michigan (13-2, 2-1 Big Ten) tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in Rec Hall for the second match of the weekend. Michigan enters the match coming off a win, after downing Rutgers, 3-0, earlier this evening. The Nittany Lions will offer $4 tickets for Saturday's to fans who present their Penn State football ticket at the door.
The first set was back-and-forth in the early going, with a host of players in Lee, Washington, Frantti and redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell all notching kills to lead to a 15-15 tie. A pair of Michigan State hammers gave the Spartans a two-point lead when Penn State called for time. The break worked, as three consecutive kills from Lee, Washington and Frantti and a Michigan State error caused Michigan State to take its first break of the set with PSU ahead, 19-17. A 3-0 run punctuated by a spike from Gorrell forced Michigan State's second timeout at 23-19. MSU fended off three set points before an error from the Spartans led to a Penn State victory, 25-22.
The second set saw nine ties in the early going before a kill from Washington gave PSU an 11-10 lead. Penn State would not trail again in the set. A block from junior opposite Heidi Thelen and three MSU errors gave Penn State an 18-14 advantage. Michigan State wouldn't back down, pulling within two on a kill at 20-18 when Penn state took its only timeout that set. The Nittany Lions closed out the second set with a 5-2 run, as Gorrell and Lee denied the ball for set point, 25-20.
Penn State came out of the break fired up and put together the most complete set of the evening. Lee, Washington, Gorrell and Frantti all posted kills in the first six points of the match on kills for a 5-1 lead. Michigan State pulled within three at 8-5 when PSU opened a 4-0 run highlighted by a block from Washington and junior setter Abby Detering. MSU called for time at 12-5, but Penn State rattled off three straight points afterwards. A kill for Detering made it 18-8. Lee tacked on a pair of kills before PSU was aced twice. The team called timeout at 23-13 before putting the match away with a MSU error, 25-13.
NOTES:
Team
- No. 16 Penn State pushed past No. 18 Michigan State in three sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-13) Friday evening, moving the Nittany Lions to a 9-0 winning streak.
- Tonight's win marks Penn State's tenth straight-set victory of the season, improving their overall record to 11-3 and Big Ten record to 3-0.
- Two Nittany Lions recorded double figure kills to lead the offense in tonight's match. Junior Simone Lee posted 12 kills on .345 hitting while junior Ali Frantti finished second on the team with a total of 10 kills on .375 hitting.
- Penn State out-blocked Michigan State 6.0 to 5.0 with multi-block performances by three different Nittany Lions. Junior Simone Lee, junior Haleigh Washington and redshirt freshman Tori Gorrell each tallied two blocks apiece.
Series
- Penn State holds a 42-7 advantage in the all-time series against Michigan State and 22-3 in matches played at Rec Hall.
- The Nittany Lions currently have a 5-0 winning streak against the Spartans.
Players
Simone Lee, junior outside hitter: Lee led the team for the 13th time of the season posting 12 kills while adding two digs and two blocks.
Ali Frantti, junior outside hitter: Frantti notched 10 kills, marking her fourth double-figure kill performance of the season to go along with four digs.
Abby Detering, junior setter: Detering dished out 34 assists, pacing the team to a .333 hitting percentage, and recorded six digs.
Kendall White, freshman defense specialist: White registered a team-high 11 digs for the 12th match of the season and passed out two assists.