MATCH STATS
- #1 Penn State def. #12 Wisconsin, 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16)
- Penn State moves to 20-1, 10-1 Big Ten; Wisconsin falls to 14-6, 5-6 Big Ten
- University Park, Pennsylvania
- Attendance: 3123
- Box score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The #1 Penn State Nittany Lions earned a hard-fought victory over a hungry #12 Wisconsin squad looking for a strong road victory to boost their chances of hosting the first round of the NCAA tournament. Multiple career highs from Penn State prevented that possibility, and the Blue and White won in four sets (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16).
Penn State, leading the nation in team hitting percentage entering the match (.351) found out from the start that Wisconsin’s defense would be stout. Through the first set, PSU was hitting well below their average (.125), but kept Wisconsin to an .022 mark. Down 16-9 in set two, Russ Rose called redshirt junior Nia Reed to replace a struggling Ali Frantti (at the time, she had 2 kills on 4 errors), who proceeded to pound 8 kills in 9 swings. Half of the remaining points came off of Reed’s kills, and along with 3 service errors from Wisconsin, captured the second set 25-23. Reed finished with a career-high 11 kills in a set and a half of play. The Nittany Lions were led offensively by Haleigh Washington with 14 kills and hit .448 on the night. With her 8 blocks, she became the only active Big Ten player and 8th player in Penn State history with 1,000 kills and 500 blocks in her career. No other PSU player had double-digit kills, but a third career-high of 18 digs was earned from Simone Lee who also added 8 kills to the fray. Bryanna Weiskircher and Abby Detering ran the 6-2 well, with 29 and 15 assists, respectively. Libero Kendall White finished with a match-high 21 digs.
For Wisconsin, the Badgers were led by reigning Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week 6’8″ Dana Rettke with 17 kills, hitting .378 and adding 4 blocks. Her middle counterpart, Tionna Williams, was the only other double-digit kill producer for Wisconsin, finishing with 10 kills, hitting .300 and blocking a team-high 5 balls. Setter Sydney Hilley narrowly missed a double-double with 48 assists and 9 digs. Hilley also produced a team- and career-high 5 blocks. Libero Tiffany Clark finished with a team-high 20 digs. It was her second-straight match digging 20+ balls. Ultimately, Wisconsin’s serving did them in, with 15 service errors.
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