MATCH STATS
- #2 Penn State def. Colorado 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-21)
- Penn State moves to 6-0; Colorado falls to 6-1
- Champaign, Illinois
- Box Score
Senior outside hitter Ali Frantti put down a match-high 17 kills, while the No. 2 Nittany Lions hit at a .307 clip as a team in a sweep of Colorado to open the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Friday.
Penn State (AVCA 3) outhit Colorado .307 to .265, registered 17 more kills (53-36) and outserved the Buffaloes 4-1. Colorado won the block 9-5.
Frantti led a trio of Penn State players with double-digit kill tallies, posting 17, followed by senior outside Simone Lee (11) and senior setter Abby Detering (10). Detering rounded out a double double with 21 assists, while hitting at a team-best .692 clip. Lee served up a team-leading two aces, while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Tori Gorrell put up a team-best three blocks. Sophomore libero Kendall White and redshirt junior setter Bryanna Weiskircher managed double digit digs with 14 and 10 respectively. Weiskircher finished out a double double with 27 assists.
Junior outside Alexa Smith and junior outside Frankie Shebby paced Colorado with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Shebby also managed a team-best 12 digs to wrap up a double double, while Smith added nine digs and the team’s lone ace. Junior middle Naghede Abu put up a team-best four blocks, while senior middle Anna Pfefferle added three stuffs.
Colorado took an early 5-3 lead in the match, but Penn State countered with a 4-0 run to take the lead. Frantti, Lee and Nia Reed tallied kills in the rally. After a tie at 9-all, the NittanyLions pushed ahead by four at 16-12 as five players turned in kills. PSU boasted a 21-16 lead en route to the 25-22 final score.
Penn State wasted no time establishing itself in Set 2, cruising to a 9-2 lead with help from three kills and back-to-back aces by Lee. Colorado clawed back to within two at 15-13 thanks to four PSU errors and a kill and an ace by Smith. Penn State scored three straight, on two blocks and a kill by Washington, to go ahead 18-13, a margin the Buffaloes could not overcome.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 6-1 lead in Set 3, as Detering put down three kills, only to see Colorado slice the margin to one at 8-7 and eventually knot the score at 12 and 13 as Shebby downed three kills. PSU used a 4-1 run to gain separation at 17-14. The Buffaloes were within one at 18-17, but Penn State maintained the edge, going up 22-19 on a Detering kill. The Nittany Lions closed out the sweep with three of the final four points. Detering pounded down six kills in the final stanza.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Penn State Athletics
The No. 3 Penn State women’s volleyball team sweep Colorado in the opening match of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Friday evening in Huff Hall on the University of Illinois Campus.Being in Illinois must have put Ali Frantti in a good mood on Friday evening because the native of Spring Grove, Ill., came out firing as the Nittany Lions took on Colorado in Huff Hall on the University of Illinois campus on Saturday afternoon.
The senior opened up with seven kills in the first set, swinging at a clip of .545.
She finished the match with a season-high 17 kills to lead all attackers while hitting an efficient .469 at the pin. She also snagged six digs.
Fellow outside Simone Lee (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) added 11 kills and neared a double-double as she added eight digs. Her eight pickups moved her over 300 career digs.
Both setters added double-doubles as Abby Detering(Mentor, Ohio) put down 10 kills on a clip of .692 and dished out 21 assists.
In the third set, Detering went a perfect six-for-six on her attack attempts to help spur the Nittany Lions to the clean sweep.
Bryanna Weiskircher (Loves Park, Ill.) added 27 assists while scooping up 21 digs.
Defensively. Kendall White (Indianapolis, Ind.) led all players with 14 digs. Tori Gorrell (Oakville, Ontario) had a team-high three blocks.
As a team, the Nittany Lions out-hit the Buffs, .307-.265, while putting down 53 kills to CU’s 36.
Penn State returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 9, with a 6 p.m. ET match against No. 4 Stanford. This will be the second meeting between the two squads in eight days. Penn State took the first match, 3-1, on Sept. 1.
Courtesy: Colorado Athletics
Colorado put up a great battle, but ultimately suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of third-ranked Penn State on Friday afternoon, 3-0, in the first match of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge.
The Buffs never backed down to the perennial powerhouse throughout the entire match and out-blocked the Nittany Lions 9.0-5.0 with three players posting two or more blocks in the contest. Junior middle blocker Naghede Abu led CU with four blocks, including one solo, while senior Anna Pfefferle was second with three total blocks (one solo and two assists). Junior Frankie Shebby also posted one block solo and one block assist.
Penn State improved to 6-0 on the season with the win, while the Buffs moved to 6-1 after recording the loss. Set scores were 25-22, 25-18, 25-21.
WHAT HAPPENED: Shebby, along with junior Alexa Smith led CU’s offense with double-digit kills. Smith tallied 11 in the effort, while Shebby had 10 kills and added 12 digs for her third double-double this season. Abu and senior Joslyn Hayes were tied for third on the team with five kills each.
SET 1: The Buffs had a 5-3 advantage to start the match before the Lions recorded four straight points to go up 7-5. The Buffs answered back with a point and gained a bit of momentum, tying things up 9-9 a short time later, but PSU responded with three straight points to regain the lead. The Lions went up 21-16 late in the set, forcing the Buffs to take a timeout, and despite scoring after the break, CU was unable to get back in the set, falling 25-22.
SET 2: Penn State came out fast in the second set, and despite a valent comeback attempt, the Buffs were not able to catch up. The Lions went up 5-0 right off the bat and after going ahead 9-2, forced the Buffs to take a timeout. CU fought hard and brought the set within a pair of points at 15-13, but PSU responded with three consecutive points (18-13). The Buffs were able to get the frame within three points again late in the set (20-17), but were unable to finish the comeback, falling 25-18.
SET 3: After regrouping during intermission, the Buffs scored the first point, before PSU went on a 6-1 run to cause the Buffs to use a quick break. After the timeout, CU scored and possession went back and forth between the teams until the Buffs went on a three-point run, slashing the Lions’ lead to 8-7. The Buffs kept things close, eventually evening up the set 12-12 and then again 13-13. Despite this surge, PSU pulled away late in the set, going 3-1 with the Buffs in the final points to secure the set, 25-21.
TEAM STATISTICS: Penn State had the edge in the box score, hitting .307 with 53 kills and 18 errors on 114 attacks. The Buffs hit .265 with 36 kills and just 10 errors on 98 swings. PSU recorded 48 digs to the Buffs’ 38 and also had the advantage in aces (4-1).
NEXT UP: The Buffs will be back in action at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge on Saturday against Illinois. First serve is set for 1:30 p.m. MT. Link to live stats, live stream and radio broadcast are available at CUBuffs.com.
QUOTES:
Head coach Jesse Mahoney
“I thought we played well offensively, well enough to win a lot of matches. But we didn’t put enough service pressure on Penn State to get them out of system. They are hard to defend when they can set all options.”
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