No. 1 Penn State Women's Volleyball Sweeps Iowa
By: Bob Patterson
Updated: October 25, 2012
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The top-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team (21-1, 11-0 Big Ten) earned a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-15) win at Iowa Wednesday night. Junior Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) led all players with 11 kills and 12 digs.
Junior Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) was second on the team with eight kills on an impressive .800 hitting percentage. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 34 assists and was third on the team in digs with eight. Sophomore Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) posted 10 digs and Slay and McClendon led the Lions with four blocks apiece.
The Nittany Lions grabbed a 5-2 lead to start the match thanks to four straight Iowa errors and a Scott kill. Two straight PSU errors moved the Hawkeyes within one, 5-4. Iowa kept it close until 6-1 Penn State run had the Nittany Lions with a seven-point advantage, 15-8. Kills from sophomore Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio), junior Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) and freshman Megan Courtney(Dayton, Ohio) maintained Penn State's lead before putdowns from Courtney and McClendon had Penn State with a nine point lead, 21-12. The Nittany Lions allowed the Hawkeyes only three additional points before two kills from Grant helped Penn State come away with a 25-15 set one win.
Iowa had the upper hand for the first half of the second set maintaining at least a two-point edge until back-to-back kills had the Hawkeyes leading, 13-9. Penn State called a timeout and put down three straight kills to close the gap to one, 13-12. After an Iowa timeout, Slay pounded a kill to knot the score at 13-13. The score tied three more times before a 3-0 PSU run had the Lions leading 19-16. Iowa called a second timeout, but Hancock followed it with an ace for a four-point lead, 20-16. The teams traded points briefly before another 3-0 PSU run moved the Lions into set point, 24-18. Despite an Iowa kill, Slay tallied a kill for a 25-19 second set victory.
The third set started out close with the score tying four times before Iowa moved ahead by two, 9-7. However, four straight Iowa errors moved Penn State ahead 11-9. Iowa called a timeout, but Penn State's lead continued to grow. Thanks to two Hawkeye errors, kills from Courtney and Scott and a Gonzalez ace, Penn State pushed ahead by six, 18-12. Iowa called another timeout, but two more Hawkeye errors and kills by Hancock and McClendon had the Lions leading 22-14. Two more kills and a Hancock ace closed out the set for PSU, 25-15.
Penn State is back in action on Sunday, Oct. 28 at No. 4 Nebraska. Action is set for 2 p.m. and will be live on the Big Ten Network.
Source: PSU Athletics
Junior Katie Slay (Raleigh, N.C.) was second on the team with eight kills on an impressive .800 hitting percentage. Sophomore Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) dished out 34 assists and was third on the team in digs with eight. Sophomore Dominique Gonzalez (San Antonio, Texas) posted 10 digs and Slay and McClendon led the Lions with four blocks apiece.
The Nittany Lions grabbed a 5-2 lead to start the match thanks to four straight Iowa errors and a Scott kill. Two straight PSU errors moved the Hawkeyes within one, 5-4. Iowa kept it close until 6-1 Penn State run had the Nittany Lions with a seven-point advantage, 15-8. Kills from sophomore Nia Grant (Warren, Ohio), junior Ariel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) and freshman Megan Courtney(Dayton, Ohio) maintained Penn State's lead before putdowns from Courtney and McClendon had Penn State with a nine point lead, 21-12. The Nittany Lions allowed the Hawkeyes only three additional points before two kills from Grant helped Penn State come away with a 25-15 set one win.
Iowa had the upper hand for the first half of the second set maintaining at least a two-point edge until back-to-back kills had the Hawkeyes leading, 13-9. Penn State called a timeout and put down three straight kills to close the gap to one, 13-12. After an Iowa timeout, Slay pounded a kill to knot the score at 13-13. The score tied three more times before a 3-0 PSU run had the Lions leading 19-16. Iowa called a second timeout, but Hancock followed it with an ace for a four-point lead, 20-16. The teams traded points briefly before another 3-0 PSU run moved the Lions into set point, 24-18. Despite an Iowa kill, Slay tallied a kill for a 25-19 second set victory.
The third set started out close with the score tying four times before Iowa moved ahead by two, 9-7. However, four straight Iowa errors moved Penn State ahead 11-9. Iowa called a timeout, but Penn State's lead continued to grow. Thanks to two Hawkeye errors, kills from Courtney and Scott and a Gonzalez ace, Penn State pushed ahead by six, 18-12. Iowa called another timeout, but two more Hawkeye errors and kills by Hancock and McClendon had the Lions leading 22-14. Two more kills and a Hancock ace closed out the set for PSU, 25-15.
Penn State is back in action on Sunday, Oct. 28 at No. 4 Nebraska. Action is set for 2 p.m. and will be live on the Big Ten Network.
Source: PSU Athletics
