Match Stats
- #18 Penn State def. Rutgers 3-0 at Rutgers (25-17, 25-17, 15-5)
- Penn State moves to 9-3 (1-0 Big Ten), Rutgers falls to 4-10 (0-1)
The 18th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions eased their way into the 2016 Big Ten season with a 3-0 thumping on the road against Rutgers.
Penn St. dominated the match from start-to-finish, hitting a whopping .468 in the three set win with 10 aces in 3 sets. In their most dominant statistical performance of the year so far, that’s the third time Penn State has hit better than .400 this season, and the first time they’ve recorded double-digit aces.
By the third set, Penn State was absolutely dominant, with a perfect 6-for-6 sideout percentage (on an overall dominant match mark of 85%), meaning that Rutgers never earned a point on its own serve in the set.
Two Penn St. players recorded double-digit kills, Ali Franti with 11 and Simone Lee with 13. While Rutgers was error-prone overall on their attacks, Mikaela Matthews did hit .455 on 6 kills and Cole Trimble hit .545 on 7 kills as bright spots for the losing team.
Rutgers was optimistic after the result, focusing on the first two sets where they feel they proved that they can hang with the #18 team in the country.
Videos
Courtesy RVision1766:
Press Releases
Courtesy Penn State Athletics:
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The No. 18 Penn State women’s volleyball team (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten) rolled past the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (4-10, 0-1 Big Ten), 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-5), on Wednesday evening inside College Avenue Gym.
Junior outside hitters Simone Lee and Ali Frantti led the way, scoring 13 and 11 kills apiece, hitting .579 and .458 respectively.
As a team, the Nittany Lions opened Big Ten play hitting at an impressive .468 clip, committing just five errors throughout the match. The team also exceeded serving, recording 10 aces in the outing.
Penn State will continue its road stand on Sunday, Sept. 25, facing the Wildcats of Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois. First serve is slated for 1 p.m.
The match started with a solo block from Lee before Detering aced the Scarlet Knights for a 3-0 lead. Rutgers scored twice during the span of the next seven points, when an enormous kill courtesy of Frantti forced a Rutgers timeout at 8-2. Rutgers scored three times before a block from Frantti and Washington pushed the Nittany Lions to be the first to 10 points. A kill of the slide from Haleigh Washington the next play edged the PSU lead to 11-5. The two sides swapped points back and forth with nothing between the two sides, as each scored six points. Penn State’s lead spanned between five and six points. A kill from middle blocker Tori Gorrellmade Penn State the first team to 20, before a solo stuff from Frantti made a 21-14 lead. Washington notched an enormous block with Thelen before an error from Rutgers ended the set. Frantti, Gorrell and Lee each notched three kills in the 25-17 first set victory.
An over pass kill from Washington highlighted the early action in the second, as Penn State jumped to an early 3-1 lead. An enormous swing from Lee made the score 5-2 in the Nittany Lions’ favor, when Rutgers responded with two of their own. Penn State responded with a 3-0 run, capped by a kill from Gorrell, before Rutgers put together a 4-0 spurt to tie the set, 8-8. The two sides traded blows, with Frantti posting an electric kill to make the score 12-10 in PSU’s favor. There was no separation between the two sides, going back and forth, before Thelen’s third kill of the night and an ace from Laura Broerman sparked a 3-0 run, causing a Rutgers timeout at an 18-14 Penn State edge. The stoppage didn’t slow PSU, as the Blue and White opened a 4-2 run, finished with a solo stop from Washington to force Rutgers’ second timeout at 22-16. Lee hammered down two of her set-best five kills in the final three plays as PSU claimed the second set, 25-17.
A pair of impressive kills from Frantti and Heidi Thelen followed by three consecutive aces from Abby Detering catapulted Penn State to a 6-0 lead to open the third set. Rutgers called timeout and followed with its first point of the set. Lee notched her sixth kill to spark a 4-0 run. Lee committed a service error before following it up with a kill the next play for an 11-2 lead. A pair of hammers from Frantti and one from Washington extended the lead to 14-2. A 4-2 run for the Nittany Lions including an ace from Frantti for the team’s ninth of the evening made the score 18-4, prompting Rutgers’ second timeout. Lee came out of the timeout hot, scoring on consecutive kills before a block from Washington and Detering and an ace from Carley Mullermade the score 22-4. Rutgers scored just once more before Penn State claimed the match with a 25-5 third set victory.
NOTES:
Team
– No. 18 Penn State defeated Rutgers, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-5), inside College Avenue Gym on Wednesday evening.
– Tonight’s win extends the Nittany Lions to a 7-0 winning streak and their seventh straight-set victory of the season.
– Junior Simone Lee and classmate Ali Frantti each posted double-figure kills in the outing, with 13 and 11, respectively.
– Penn State out-served Rutgers 10-0, with setter Abby Detering leading the way with four. Frantti, Kendall White, Carley Muller, Allison Farrell and Laura Boerman each added one as well.
– The Nittany Lions out-blocked Rutgers, 8.0-3.0. Washington led the way with five blocks, while Gorrell, Detering and Frantti each had multiple blocks as well.
Series
– Penn State moves to 28-9 in the all-time series against Rutgers and 7-1 at the home of the Scarlet Knights.
– The Nittany Lions currently have a 19-match winning streak against Rutgers.
Players
– Haleigh Washington, junior middle blocker: Washington led the blocking unit for the eighth time of the season posting five blocks, including two solo stuffs. She also added five kills.
– Simone Lee, junior outside hitter: Lee recorded 13 kills in the match, marking her eleventh double-figure kill performance of the season. She hit .458 and notched six digs and a block
– Ali Frantti, junior outside hitter: Frantti posted 11 kills on .579 hitting. She added three digs and a pair of blocks.
– Abby Detering, junior setter: Detering passed out 34 assists, leading PSU to hit .468 on the match. She added four aces – a season high – along with four kills, six digs, and a pair of blocks.
– Kendall White, freshman defensive specialist: White led the team in digs for the tenth time this season with 13 total, good for best on the team.
Courtesy Rutgers Athletics:
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Sept. 21, 2016) – In its Big Ten opener, the Rutgers women’s volleyball team (4-10, 0-1 Big Ten) was topped by Penn State (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten) on Wednesday night at the College Ave Gym. The Nittany Lions claimed the win by set scores of 25-17, 25-17, and 25-5.
Rutgers was led by junior outside hitter Meme Fletcher and senior right sideCole Trimble with seven kills each. Fifth-year senior middle blocker Mikaela Matthews followed with six kills of her own, along with two blocks.
Penn State had two double-digit kill performs, paced by Simone Lee with a match-high 13 kills to go with a .458 hitting percentage. Ali Franti followed with 11 kills of her own and a .579 hitting clip.
Despite PSU taking the first set and gaining a slight edge to start the second, a block from the duo of Matthews and Trimble got the Scarlet Knight gears turning to send RU on a 3-0 run to tie the frame 8-8. RU kept the margin as close as one on seven occasions as four different Scarlet Knights contributed a kill across a span that set the score at 15-14. From there, PSU capitalized on a pair of aces and a few RU miscues to pull away to a 20-15 advantage en route to a set two win and 2-0 lead in the match.
RU was unable to retain its momentum moving into the third frame as PSU took the victory in the match.
NEXT UP
Rutgers continues Big Ten play on the road with a trip to Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 8 pm ET.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers faced its first ranked opponent of the season in No. 18 Penn State.
- Freshmen Jillian Duffin, Megan Sharkey, Jasmine Stackhouse, Karysa Swackenberg, Galia Nankin and transfer Phallyn Hill saw their first action in a Big Ten match.
- With two blocks in the contest, Mikaela Matthews brought her career mark to 330 total blocks, ranking sixth on Rutgers all-time career charts.
- Seven different Scarlet Knights contributed at least one kill in the match.
- Across the last three seasons, No. 18 Penn State had its lowest rank in a conference match against Rutgers. The Nittany Lions have met up with the Scarlet Knights ranked No. 6 in 2014 and No. 1 in 2015.
Follow Rutgers Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram (@RUvball) for all of the latest news and updates. The team is also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersVolleyball). For all Rutgers Athletics news follow us on Twitter(@RUAthletics), Instagram (@RUAthletics), Snapchat (@RUAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics).
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