MATCH STATS
- #2 Penn State def. Yale 3-0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-11)
- Penn State moves to 8-0; Yale falls to 4-3
- University Park, Pa.
- Attendance: 3,678
- Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 2 Penn State put on a show, besting Yale in every category of a sweep to kick off the Penn State Classic and move to 8-0 on the year. The Nittany Lions hit at a .431 clip, outblocked the Bulldogs 13-3 and served up seven aces in the win.
Senior outside hitter Simone Lee downed a team-best 10 kills and added four blocks to pace PSU. Senior middle blocker Haleigh Washington chipped in eight kills on a team-leading .727 hitting with 11 errorless swings, while also putting up a match-high seven blocks. Senior right side hitter Heidi Thelen followed with seven kills and five blocks. Senior setter Abby Detering managed an 11-kill, 11-dig double double, while also notching five kills. Sophomore libero Kendall White added six digs and a team-best four aces.
Junior outside Kelley Wirth managed a match-high 13 kills and two blocks to lead Yale. Freshman outside Kathryn Attar, sophomore middle Izzy Simqu and freshman middle Destiny Daniel added four kills apiece. Junior libero Kate Swanson led the defense with seven digs.
PSU outhit Yale .529 to -.038 in Set 1, cruising to the 25-9 win. It was 20-6 before you could blink, including three blocks and three aces as well as kills by five different players. Yale scored three straight, including two Nittany Lion errors, to stay alive in the set, but Penn State scored five in a row to end the stanza.
Yale led 9-7 in Set 2 as the teams traded points in the early going. Down 12-10, the Nittany Lions scored seven of the next eight to go up by four at 17-13. Thelen tallied three kills and a block in the rally. The Bulldogs were within one at 19-18 and twice more, but could not break through. A block and a kill by Frantti wrapped up the 25-21 win.
Set 3 was never in question as the Nittany Lions scored six of the first seven points and held Yale at bay the rest of the way, pushing on to a 25-11 win with help from a .524 hitting effort. A 5-0 run, including a trio of blocks, two by Washington, made it 19-7. Penn State ended the match on a 3-0 run, capping the match on a block and a kill by Thelen.
Penn State (8-0) returns to action with a pair of matches on Saturday, facing Wake Forest at 10 a.m. and Ohio at 4 p.m. ET.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Yale Athletics
The Bulldogs knew their pre-conference schedule would be tough — full of travel, Power Five opponents and nationally ranked teams. Friday’s matchup at No. 2 Penn State fit the theme for their September schedule so far.
Penn State, one of the most successful volleyball programs in the country, looked like it in a 3-0 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The scores of the match were 25-9, 25-21 and 25-11.
After a lopsided first set, the Bulldogs became the third opponent in eight matches this season to hit over .350 in a set against Penn State — No. 4 Stanford and Texas A&M were the first two. Yale outhit Penn State in the set and pushed the Nittany Lions to the brink.
Kelley Wirth struck for her third straight kill and gave the Bulldogs a 12-10 lead. Wirth led the Bulldogs with 13 kills.
Later in the set, Wirth kept Yale close with another kill to trim Penn State’s lead to 21-20. Penn State (8-0) would go on to score five of the last six points of the set.
Franny Arnautou assisted on 21 of Yale’s 29 kills and Kate Swanson led the Bulldogs with seven digs. Kathryn Atttar, Destiny Daniel and Izzy Simqu all had four kills each for the Bulldogs, who have two more challenging opponents tomorrow.
Yale will face Ohio (6-6) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and return to the court to take on Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Wake defeated Ohio, 3-1, on Friday evening and improved to 8-2 overall.
Courtesy: Penn State Athletics
The No. 2 Penn State women’s volleyball opened their seven-match homestand with a 3-0 sweep over Yale in the Penn State Classic on Friday evening.Haleigh Washington (Colorado Springs, Colorado) put together an all-around impressive performance in the three sets. The middle blocker put down eight kills, on a clip of .727, while adding a match-high seven blocks, and six digs. Her six digs were third most in the match.
Abby Detering (Mentor, Ohio) came out firing in the home opener as she recorded her third double-double of the year with 11 digs and 11 assists. Her 11 digs led the match.
Fellow setter Bryanna Weiskircher (Rockford, Ill.) added a team-high 15 assists while scooping up four digs.
Kendall White (Indianapolis, Ind.) tallied a career-high four aces, marking the first time this season she has led the team in a match. The libero also added seven digs.
Simone Lee was ever-consistent, putting down a team-best 10 digs on .381-hitting while adding four block assists and three digs.
The Nittany Lions out-blocked Yale, 13.0-3.0. This marked the sixth match that Penn State has bested their opponent at the net. This is also the third time the team has reached double-digit team blocks.
Penn State returns to action as they will take on Wake Forest at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and they will wrap up their play at the Penn State Classic with a 4 p.m. Saturday match against Ohio.
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