Match Results
- #2 Penn State def. Michigan 3-0, (25-17, 25-18, 25-14)
- Penn State improves to 17-1, 7-1 Big Ten, Michigan falls to 13-7, 3-5 Big Ten
- University Park, Pennsylvania
- Attendance: 4,610
- Match Stats
#2 Penn State downed Michigan in straight sets behind a strong attacking performance – despite a tough blocking night by the Wolverines. Michigan posted eight total blocks on the night while Penn State got past the Wolverine block 49 times for kills.
The Nittany Lions hopped out to an early 8-4 lead to begin the match an continued to grow the lead by spreading the offense around. With the score at 13-8, Penn State went on a small 4-0 run off two kills from Haleigh Washington and a kill and block from Ali Frantti. The Wolverine fought back with a mini-run of their own, starting with a block from Cori Crocker and Claire Kieffer-Wright. Michigan’s small run brought the score to 19-14 before the Nittany Lions took charge and finished the set on a 6-3 run ending with a kill from Tori Gorrell at 25-17.
The second set started close but the Nittany Lions pulled ahead on kills from Washington, Frantti and Heidi Thelen to bring the score to 5-2. The Wolverines bounced back slightly to tie things up at 11-11 before Penn State began to slowly pull away to a 20-14 lead. A Crocker hitting error ended the set at 25-18.
In the third, Penn State led 4-3 early, before going on a 4-0 run on kills from Frantti, Washington, Abby Detering and Simone Lee brought the score to 8-3. A Carly Skjodt kills stopped the Penn State run but was not enough to spark anything huge for the Wolverines. The Nittany Lions continued to chip away at the remainder of the set, leading 21-8 late. Michigan tried to get themselves into the set but the difference was too great as they fell in three to Penn State with a third set score of 15-14.
For the Nittany Lions, Lee led the offense with 15 kills on a .393 hitting clip while Washington added another 12 on a .571 hitting performance. Frantti contributed nine kills and 11 digs in the win while Kendall White picked up 13 digs.
The Wolverines were led by Skjodt with 12 kills while Jenna Lerg picked up nine digs.
Press Release
Courtesy of Penn State Athletics
The No. 2 Penn State women’s volleyball team put together an all-around complete performance on Saturday evening in front of the biggest Rec Hall crowd this season, sweeping Michigan, 3-0; 25-17, 25-18, 25-14, in Big Ten action.
Rec Hall was booming on Saturday evening as a season-high 4,610 fans filled the stands.
The Nittany Lions put on an impressive performance for those fans, as they put down 49 kills as a team on an impressive .394 hitting percentage, and added 41 digs and 6.0 team blocks to hold Michigan to just .215 hitting and only 31 kills.
Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) led the way with 15 kills for the Nittany Lions. She hit .393 on the evening and added five digs and two blocks.
Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Co.) followed with 12 kills, hitting .571, and she tallied two blocks and two digs.
Ali Frantti (Spring Grove, Ill.) provided another consistent performance, putting down nine kills and scooping up 10 digs while dishing out two service aces.
Kendall White (Indianapolis, Ind.) led all with a game-high 13 digs while adding one ace.
Heidi Thelen (Edgewood, Ky.) put down seven kills, hitting .500 for the match, and added one block.
Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio) and Bryanna Weiskircher (Rockford, Ill.) dished out 21 and 20 assists respectively. Detering added two kills and six digs to her stat line.
No. 2 Penn State will return to action on Oct. 20 as they head to No. 16 Purdue for an 8 p.m. match in West Lafayette, Ind.
Press Release
Courtesy of Michigan Athletics
Despite a strong team
blocking effort and 12 kills by junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt, the University of Michigan volleyball team (13-7, 3-5 B1G) fell to the No. 2-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (17-1, 7-1 B1G) on Saturday night (Oct. 14) in straight sets (25-17, 25-18, 25-14) inside Rec Hall.
Michigan finished the match with eight blocks to Penn State’s six, marking the first time this season that the Wolverines have out-blocked an opponent ranked in the AVCA Top-25.
Senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright led the blocking effort with five block assists and sophomores Cori Crocker and MacKenzi Welsh each finished with three apiece.
Offensively, Skjodt posted a team-high 12 kills, while Crocker finished with six kills at a .357 average. Welsh also totaled three kills on four swings for a .750 hitting percentage.
Penn State took an early lead in the first set, going up by a 10-5 score and forcing Michigan to call timeout. A .367 team hitting percentage allowed Penn State to maintain a strong lead, and though freshman server Natalie Smithled the Wolverines on a 5-0 run late in the set to close the gap, the Nittany Lions took the first set, 25-17.
Following a Penn State service error to begin set two, the Nittany Lions jumped out to an early lead before a kill by Skjodt and a Penn State error tied things up at 6. From there, the teams traded points and the score was tied four times before the Nittany Lions pulled away for a defining lead at 12-10. Though Michigan continued to keep the score close, a 5-0 run put Penn State up, 20-14, and burned both of the Wolverines’ timeouts. Despite six kills by Skjodt and a .314 team attack average, Penn State took set two by a 25-18 score.
Coming out of the break, the Nittany Lions used a 7-3 run to jump out to another early lead and coerce Michigan into calling timeout. From there, Penn State dominated the remainder of the match, using a .303 attack average and holding Michigan to just seven kills in set three. With the Wolverines unable to garner any momentum, the Nittany Lions took the third set, 25-14, for a clean 3-0 sweep.
The Wolverines will return to action on Wednesday (Oct. 18) when they make a day trip to East Lansing, Michigan, for a midweek match against in-state foe Michigan State. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and fans can watch the match live on ESPNU.
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